Coming Home
by Ironic-Kiwi
Summary: Cliff finds his way to Flower Bud Village, and develops a crush on the amiable yet clueless Jack. Will Jack ever get a clue? Probably, because this story carries a shonen ai warning. Discontinued
1. And it Begins Again

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon 64 and all related characters are property of Natsume. This story is written for entertainment purposes only, and not one red cent is being made off its existence. (As one would assume would be obvious, as it's posted on fanfiction dot net)

Additional Disclaimer: This story contains a homosexual relationship. If you are not comfortable reading about such topics, then please don't read any further. Questions, comments, and _constructive_ criticism are all welcome, but flames will be mocked for the bits of immature drivil that they are. If you are for some reason offended by this story, might I suggest you loosen up a bit before you snap in two?

Coming Home

-Chapter 1: And it Begins Again-

"Isn't it about time we moved on, Cliff?" The words echoed again and again through his mind as he trudged aimlessly along a mountain path. "A relationship like ours can't last forever, you know," the voice in his mind continued, the mouth delivering the cruel words twisted in a bitter smile. Up until that moment, that moment when Owen had uttered those words, he had loved that mouth. The full lips soft to the touch, surrounded more often than not by jagged stubble. "It was fun while it lasted, though, wasn't it?" Try as he might, he could not stop replaying the conversation in his mind. The oppressive gloom of the dark, drizzly forest he was currently making his way through was not helping to take his mind off things.

"You could've told me that _before_ we had sex that last time, you ass-hole," Cliff muttered under his breath, jamming his fists deep into the pockets of his patched trousers. That was perhaps the biggest blow of all - he had once again taken Cliff to his bed, though after so long, Cliff went willingly enough. He had begun to believe that he had found something to live for after all, some _one_ to live for. But he had been wrong. Owen had just been using him as a diversion between girlfriends, using him as an outlet with which to relieve his sexual frustration. But while he'd been doing that, he'd said all the right things, _done_ all the right things, in the between times, which had caused the first stirrings of heretofore unknown emotions to stir themselves within Cliff's heart.

All those fledgling emotions had shattered with a few well-chosen, casually spoken words. Cliff had managed to smile and say he understood, but he didn't. Not really. He wondered if he ever would. Not that it mattered, he supposed. He didn't need people. He hadn't needed them before Owen, and he wouldn't need them after. He had Cain, after all. Animals were much simpler than human beings, never dishonest or vengeful. Cain had been his friend from the day he had hatched from his egg into Cliff's lap, and he would be his friend until the end. That was all he really needed, Cliff decided.

(x)

A few hours before dawn, Cliff could walk no further. His stomach was rumbling loudly and the emotional maelstrom that had throttled his mind all night combined with the taxing hike up the mountain had left him feeling particularly strength-less, so that he paid little heed to the grey shadow that loomed in front of him, other than to recognize it as a cabin of some sort. He collapsed, relieving his tired legs. He brought his legs up to his face and wrapped his arms around them, resting his forehead on his knees and closing his eyes. Sighing, he drifted into a sort of half-doze, and stayed there until the sun peaked up on the horizon and a kind voice asked him if he was alright.

Still half asleep and thinking the voice to be a figment of some half-developed dream, Cliff muttered, "So...hungry..." There was a rustling sound which he assumed was part of the dream, but shortly after there came the aroma of sweet berries, followed by the same kind voice.

"Here," Startled to full wake-fullness, Cliff looked up. Right in front of his nose was a pile of fresh mountain berries, held carefully in two large, work-calloused hands. Looking past the berries, Cliff took in long arms and wide shoulders covered with white sleeves, and a kind, handsome face framed by a green cap and some way-ward bangs, containing two warm, concerned brown eyes. Cliff blinked several times, then returned his gaze to the berries. He cupped his own hands beneath the other's, and the pile of fresh berries was carefully transferred.

Cliff made short work of the mountain delicacy, then stood up.

"Feeling better?" His unnamed benefactor asked. He nodded.

"Thanks, I'm alive again." This statement caused the other to grin. Cliff couldn't help smiling back. "I'm Cliff," he said, not sure what prompted him to say it.

"Jack," the other introduced himself, holding out his hand to shake. Cliff gripped Jack's hand with his. "That's Cain," he said, pulling away after a moment and gesturing at the hawk who had seated himself on top of a red-roofed dog house. "He's my mate," he added unnecessarily.

"Awesome!" Jack grinned again. It seemed he was prone to quick smiles. "That's Jiro," he said, pointing behind Cliff, who turned to see a medium-sized brown dog, crouched warily beside the cabin, staring around the corner at the offending avian perched atop his house. "He's not very smart, but I like him," Jack continued, shoving his hands into his pockets and smiling happily over at the dog. Cliff decided he liked Jack. Anyone who liked animals as much as he did couldn't be a bad guy. Even so, he felt he shouldn't hang around too long. Judging from the state of the fields on this farm, Jack had quite a bit of work cut out for him, and he shouldn't loiter.

"I'll be going then," Cliff said, turning back to Jack, who nodded. He turned to go, and Cain took flight, rising into the air and circling above his head about fifty feet as he customarily did. "I'll see you around," he said as he left. Jack grinned and waved, then turned away and made towards the field.

"Now why did I say that...?" Cliff wondered to himself as he left the farm.

(x)

Jack sat back on his heels and wiped his brow with his red handkerchief. He smiled happily at the little pen he'd erected using some of the lumber from the tree stumps he'd cut up around his farm. He'd been ready to get his first chicken for a while now, but he hadn't wanted to purchase one until he had a nice, safe, outdoor pen to put it in. Glancing up at the sun, he saw that it wasn't quite noon yet. The Green Ranch would be open and he'd be able to get his chicken. Straightening, he stretched luxuriously for a moment, then set off across his field, absently noting the progress of the potatoes and turnips he had planted earlier in the month. They were coming along nicely, and would be ready for harvest soon. It would be nice to be able to rely on his own crops for money, instead of shipping the things he found in the mountain.

"And soon I'll have eggs, too!" he told himself as he made his way past his cabin and out into the crossroads that lead to all the important places in Flower Bud Village. Hanging a left, he arrived shortly at the Ranch. He was about to enter the shop where Doug did business when a motion to the left caught his eye. Turning, he saw the young man he'd met earlier, Cliff, patting the neck of the Ranch's prize horse, who, he remembered with an amused grin, was _also_ named Cliff.

"Hey hey hey! What do you think you're doing?" came an irritated, loud voice. The young woman to whom it belonged shortly came into view, orange-red hair tied into a neat plait, as usual.

"I was just saying hi to this fine fellow," Cliff explained calmly, obviously not taken back by Ann's abrupt manner.

"Don't you know to ask permission first? Cliff doesn't like strangers!" She said heatedly. Cliff-the-Horse snorted politely and turned his head to nudge Cliff-the-Man in his face in what could only be a comradely fashion.

"So his name's Cliff too, huh? No wonder I felt like we were connected," Cliff mused, smiling up at the long brown face in front of him.

"Don't compare our Cliffguard to the likes of you!" Ann huffed, taking a hold of the horse's halter and tugging his face away from Cliff's. "C'mon, Cliff," she said, guiding the horse away. The young man watched the pair leave with a bemused expression on his face, then turned to leave, shrugging. He caught sight of Jack and waved, and Jack grinned and waved back.

"I see you've met Ann," he said by way of greeting as Cliff drew nearer. The other grimaced and nodded.

"So that's her name, huh?" Jack grinned. "What are you doing here?" Cliff asked as he stopped a few feet from Jack.

"Going to buy my first chicken!" Jack informed him happily. "I didn't want to get one before, because I didn't have a place outside for it to run around. But I made a little pen this morning, and it's ready for some birds!"

Cliff couldn't help but smile at Jack's enthusiasm. "Maybe I'll stop by sometime to see it," he told Jack.

"Sure!" Jack agreed easily.

A moment of silence passed, then Cliff said, "Well, I'll see you around."

"See you," Jack said, then turned to go into the shop.

Cliff took off towards the path that lead to the mountain, shaking his head at his own stupidity.

_Idiot,_ he thought to himself. _It hasn't even been a week since you were dumped, and you've already got a crush._

(x)X(x)X(x)

-To Be Continued-

Author's Notes: I've been wanting to write some serious Jack on Cliff action forever and a day now, but I've never sat down to do it, feeling too uninspired. But I recently started playing Harvest Moon 64 again, and I realized that Cliff drops a LOT of little hints when you interact with him. Juicy little hints. Around the point where he randomly showed up at my cabin (outside!) and gave me a fish because he'd "caught too many," I couldn't stand it anymore, and so this little ficlet was born.

In case anyone was wondering, I decided to use the characters from Harvest Moon 64 instead of the more up-to-date BTN or FoMT because a.) Cliff doesn't drag around feeling sorry for himself and hide in the church all day, every day, and b.) I like the character relationships from Harvest Moon 64 better. I mean, Lillia and Basil are _meant_ to be together. He's a botanist, she's the flower-shop lady...or she was, until for some weird reason they decided to make her the chicken lady. WTF is up with that, I ask? Anyway, that's another rant for another day.


	2. The Usual Rumors

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon 64 and all related characters are property of Natsume. This story is written for entertainment purposes only, and not one red cent is being made off its existence. (As one would assume would be obvious, as it's posted on fanfiction dot net) 

Coming Home

Chapter 2: The Usual Rumors

"Yeah, that Jack, he just moved onto the farm beginning of the season," Cliff had been relaxing in the shade of a tree up in the mountains, when one of the carpenter's apprentices had noticed him and struck up a friendly conversation. Cliff was surprised that the man was so friendly, and didn't seem inclined to ask any questions of his own regarding Cliff's history, something he wasn't used to. "It's a real shame. The old man who ran the farm before, Jack's grandfather, passed on last Winter. He hadn't been keeping the farm up for years at that point. Too tired, I guess." Cliff was content to let the man rattle on, encouraging him every now and then with an attentive nod and the occasional question.

"So Jack runs the farm all by himself?"

The carpenter nodded. "He's been running around like crazy all Spring. He comes up to the mountain every morning to gather herbs, clears off a bit of the land, takes care of the crops, _and_ has time left over to make friends."

"That's pretty amazing," Cliff said, impressed.

"You think that's amazing!" the man said, waggling his hatchet for emphasis. "You should've seen the place before Jack started working on it! If you think it's bedraggled now..." he trailed off, apparently unable to find words with which to describe the extent of the dilapidation before Jack had moved in. "The things that man has done in the space of a few months," he went on after a moment, shaking his head in astonishment. "I'm personally surprised he hasn't worked himself sick!"

"Me too," Cliff agreed, even more impressed than before.

The carpenter's apprentice glanced up at the sky, marking the time. "Sorry to take off on you, but I've got work to do," he said apologetically, hefting his hatchet as though to prove his words.

"No worries," Cliff assured him. Nodding cheerfully, the carpenter took off down the trail. Cliff watched as he made his way across the foot bridge over the river and disappeared from view.

"Damn," he muttered softly to himself, more taken with the other man than ever. _Why am I doing this to myself?_ he thought, irritated. Again, the cruel words spoken by another echoed in his mind. _"This kind of relationship can't last forever, Cliff,"_ Sighing, Cliff rearranged his position beneath the tree so that his legs were crossed. He propped his elbow on his knee and his chin in the palm of his hand, and stared at nothing.

* * *

"C'mon, Jiro!" Jack called to the lounging dog. Jiro's ears perked at the sound of his name, and he was on his feet a moment later, trotting after his master.

Jack and Jiro made their way along the road to the inn by the town square. The sun had just set, and Jack was ready for his end-of-the-day pint. He'd brought Jiro along recently because Karen, the girl who worked at the bar, seemed to like the floppy-eared dog, and tended to let him sweet talk her into a round on the house if Jiro was there to stare at her with his warm puppy dog eyes. Why Jack's own pitiful, pleading look failed to score with the waitress was something that puzzled him. But oh, well, he'd go with what worked.

As he entered the bar, followed closely by Jiro, two things caught his immediate attention. The first was that Karen did not appear to be working tonight, so he would have to spring for all of his own liquor. The second was that Cliff was seated at a table in the far corner and was idly spinning a glass of water around in small circles on the table. Deciding to be friendly, Jack made his way to the table where Cliff sat, stopping briefly at the bar to pick up a pint from Duke, the bar-tender.

"Mind if I sit down?" He asked, as he drew even with Cliff's table. The other man looked up, startled. "Oh, uh...sure," he waved to the other side of the table and Jack sat down, urging Jiro to lie still beneath the table. Cliff watched the dog with a smile as he settled into a small comma-shape between their feet.

"Don't like beer?" Jack asked, gesturing at the glass of water Cliff held loosely in his hand.

"No money," Cliff admitted after a moment with a shrug.

"Well, that's easily fixed, then," and without another word, Jack stood, walked over to the bar and asked Duke for a second pint. The grey-haired man obliged, and Jack returned triumphantly to the table, plunking the mug down in front of Cliff with a grin. Cliff stared at Jack as he settled back into his seat, picked up his own mug and took a long pull. He clinked the mug back down onto the table with a satisfied sigh and glanced at Cliff to see how he was enjoying the beer.

"Uh...you _do_ like beer, don't you?" Jack said, taking in Cliff's confused and slightly befuddled expression.

"I like it, it's just that...you didn't...um...you didn't have to..."

Jack broke him off with a wave of his hand and a grin. "If that's your only problem, forget it. I'd feel weird drinking in front of you if you weren't drinking too,"

Cliff's stomach jumped up to join his heart, which caused his heart to leap to his throat to join his windpipe. _Stupid, he's just being friendly,_ he told himself irritably. He picked up the mug and took a cautious sip. The liquid was cold and dark, and it tasted wonderful after living for the past week or so on spring water. He took another mouthful, then tilted his head back and drank several swallows in one go. "Good, huh?" Jack grinned across the table at him, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Very," he agreed.

The two sat in silence for a moment or two, before Cliff spoke up, for lack of anything better to say: "How's your chicken?"

The question caused Jack to grin again, which in turn caused Cliff's stomach to flip-flop. "Great! I decided to name her Greta, and she's laying eggs like mad! Do you still want to come see her?"

"Yeah, I'll drop by soon," Cliff agreed.

The two passed a pleasant half-hour chatting, until Jiro got up from beneath the table and wandered over to the door of the bar.

"I guess that's my cue," Jack said, laughing. "See you around." He stood, waved good-bye to Cliff, then turned and followed his dog out into the night. Cliff stared after for a moment, then returned his gaze to the table where it had been before Jack's arrival, and his now empty beer glass.

* * *

Jack was just finishing his breakfast (two rice balls and a cup of herbal tea) the following morning when there was a knock at the door. Curious, he looked across the small room and called, "Come in!" No one had ever visited him inside his small, dark cabin before...all previous visitors had waited for him outside.

"Hey, Jack," it was Cliff. He came into the room cautiously, as though not quite sure he really could. Jack felt a little flutter of some unnamed emotion watching him - he was so cute, like a nervous puppy. "I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning, but I caught a lot of fish, and I wanted to share," Cliff explained, holding out a medium sized fish, which Jack could see had been cooked over a fire.

"No worries, I'm always awake at this time," Jack said, accepting the fish. He immediately took a bite, and chewed appreciatively as the light, smoky flavor filled his mouth. "This is really good!" He said between bites, and promptly finished the whole thing, minus the head and tail. Jiro would probably appreciate the tidbits better than he would.

"Well, um, I'd better get going," Cliff said, rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous fashion. "See you," with that quick good-bye, he quickly made his way out the door. Frowning, Jack stared at the door for a moment before a thought occurred to him. He rushed out into the bright morning, intending to call Cliff back so he could show him Greta, but the other man had disappeared.

Jack frowned again. Cliff couldn't have disappeared so fast unless he'd run. He absently dropped the remains of the fish Cliff had given him into Jiro's bowl, staring out at the crossroads. _Not so much a nervous puppy as a _scared_ puppy,_ he thought. _I wonder why that is...?_ Still frowning, he turned around to regard his farm, only half-noticing that some of the turnips were ready to be harvested. After a moment of unsuccessful pondering, he made his way over to Greta's little pen to check for eggs.

* * *

Jack was quite busy the next few days, because more and more vegetables were ready to be shipped. He hardly left the farm because of all the harvesting and shipping, and consequently, did not see much of Cliff...or anyone else, for that matter.

He was pulling away industriously at a particularly stubborn weed when a voice over by the house called out. Straightening, he turned to see Karen leaning against the dog house, watching him. He waved and started over to see what was up.

"Working hard?" she asked, though it was perfectly obvious he was.

"Yeah...everything got ripe all at the same time, so I've just been harvesting and shipping for these past few days," he said, taking this moment of rest to wipe his forehead with his bandana.

"It's looking really good," Karen said, staring out at the fields. Jack followed her gaze. While there were still a few large rocks and stumps he had yet to break up and move, the majority of the field was now clear. Jack smiled at the compliment. In the short time he had known Karen, he knew that she was not the type to hand out unnecessary praise.

"So what's up?" he asked, turning back towards her.

"Oh! I thought you might like something to drink," she bent down to pick up a jar full of deep red liquid he had not noticed before. She unscrewed the lid with a loud "POP!" and handed him the jar.

"Wine?" he asked, catching a whiff of the heady aroma from within the container.

"From the vineyard," she said, nodding. "It's not nearly as good as grandmother's was, though..." she said, her expression becoming downcast. Jack took a sip, then another, before tilting his head back and drinking the sweet liquid with enthusiastic swallows, while Karen watched approvingly. The wine was cool and delicious, and it slid easily down the throat. He briefly wondered how the wine Karen's grandmother made had tasted. Compared to what he was drinking now, it must have been a truly fantastic substance.

"Wow, thanks so much!" he said happily a few moments later, after wiping his mouth on the back of his arm and returning the jar to her. She accepted it with a small smile and a nod. "Don't work too hard now, okay?" He grinned at her, and she turned to make her way back to the crossroads. "See you around," she called over her shoulder, before she disappeared from view.

As she wasn't looking where she was going, she bumped into someone going the opposite way, and they both fell to the ground.

"Sorry sorry sorry!" she looked up to the source of the fervent apologies to see Cliff, the guy who had shown up in town a few weeks ago. He was scrambling to his feet even as he spoke, and offered her a hand up as he continued to apologize. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, I'm _really_ sorry, are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?" His mouth seemed to be on autopilot, and his grey eyes were worried. Karen took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

"It's okay, really. I wasn't paying attention either," she said in a placating tone, which stopped his stammering. They stood in awkward silence for a moment, Cliff's head turned away in embarrassment. Karen took the opportunity to study the young man. His face was slightly flushed, and he seemed to be staring at something...she followed his gaze and out of the corner of her eyes saw Jack, back at work, bending over a patch of weeds. Her gaze snapped back to Cliff's face, and her eyes narrowed. He hadn't been blushing when he was apologizing...

Female intuition was ringing off several alarms in her brain, and she resolved to investigate the matter in greater detail later. For now, though, another interesting object had caught her eye - Cliff's ponytail, in fact. While most of the hair on his head was dark, the tips of his bangs and his ponytail were quite definitely blonde, much like her own hair.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know..." before she realized it, she had spoken, asking Cliff if he knew her grandmother.

"Oh, yes...That was my grandmother...she died about twenty years ago. I never knew her," His attention once again on Karen, the faint blush she had noticed before disappeared. Definitely something to investigate, Karen thought.

"She's my grandmother too...I guess that makes us cousins then, doesn't it?" Karen said, smiling. The young man looked startled, then smiled back. "Do you want to come up to the vineyard?" she asked abruptly, surprising both Cliff and herself.

"Umm...okay," he agreed. So she lead him away from Jack's farm up the hill towards her house.

* * *

_Something is definitely up,_ Karen thought smugly to herself as she watched Cliff take off down the hill. They'd talked for hours, catching up on some family history, and the sun had set almost without their noticing. _I thought it was boring around here before, but now things may just get interesting..._

* * *

To Be Continued

Author's Notes First off, I want to say this whole thing with Karen is probably not what most of you are thinking. Just a bit of fair warning. Secondly...um, there's not really much of a secondly...Jack is so cute and clueless...Let's see how long that lasts. Until next time...in chapter three! O-o


	3. Fireworks and Berry Pie

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon 64 and all related characters are property of Natsume. This story is written for entertainment purposes only, and not one red cent is being made off its existence. (As one would assume would be obvious, as it's posted on fanfiction dot net) 

Coming Home

Chapter 3: Fireworks and Berry Pie

Jack finished harvesting a few days before the end of the season. As he reclined with his back against the shipping bin, he wondered when he'd ever worked harder in his life. After a few moments thought, he knew that he had never worked harder in his life. He didn't think he'd ever been as content, either. There was something to be said about working outside every day. Even though he usually worked himself to the point of exhaustion towards the end of the day, after a good night's sleep, he was just as full of energy as though the day before had never happened. There were other benefits too, he thought, grinning to himself. The hoe, hammer, ax and sickle he used every day were not the easiest, or the lightest, implements to use. His arms and shoulders were developing some nice muscle tone, all without him ever having to step into a gym.

Turning his thoughts back towards the farm, he let his gaze sweep over the now completely cleared field. He had patches of earth turned and ready for Summer crops near the shipping bin at the front, and Greta's chicken pen over by the chicken coop. The next thing to do would be to plant some grass, so he could buy some livestock. He probably ought to set up a larger pen next to Greta's, outside the barn, so that once he had some cows and sheep, he could let them out on sunny days.

Rising to his feet, he was just about to get to work, when a voice caught his attention. Turning, he saw Karen walking towards him, smiling.

"Hey, Jack, did you know the fireworks festival is the day after next? This town's got awesome fireworks. I always watch from the cliff behind the carpenter's cabin - you can climb the tree to get up there, and it's nice and private,"

"Sounds like fun," Jack agreed, grinning.

"Good! Maybe I'll see you," Karen replied with a smile. Of course, That was a complete lie. Jack didn't know that she really always watched the fireworks from the beach...That knowledge in his hands would spoil her plan, though. With a little wave, she turned and headed off the farm, and took the path that lead into the mountains in search of her other victim.

She found Cliff, fishing in the stream.

"Hey, Cliff!" she said as she came up behind him. He turned and smiled when he saw who it was.

"Hi, Karen!" pulling in his line, he carefully set his fishing rod aside and stood. "Do you like fish?" he asked, offering a heretofore unseen basket filled with three good-sized trout towards her.

She made a face, shuddering. Alarmed, he quickly removed the basket from her sight and apologized. He looked so contrite, she couldn't help but forgive him.

"It's okay, you didn't know," she assured him, smiling.

"So what's up?" "I just wanted to tell you the firework's festival is in two days. There's a good place to watch, right up there," she pointed, because the cliff and the tree were both in sight from where they were standing. "You can just climb the tree to get up there, and it's really private and nice,"

"Hmm...Cain doesn't really like fireworks," Cliff said, frowning. Karen frowned also. This might throw a wrench into her careful plan.

"It's really not something to miss," she insisted. "Tourists visit the town every year around this time just to see our fireworks," _Come on_ she thought. _Say you'll go!_

"I'll definitely think about it," was what he said instead. Karen nodded. _Not entirely a failure then, and I've still got two days to work on him,_

"I hope you do," she smiled. "I'll leave you to your fishing now," waving, she started away.

"See you later," Cliff called back, picking up his rod and casting into the river. _That...was kind of weird,_ Cliff thought as he watched his lure bob in the water. But it had been a while since he'd last seen fireworks...maybe he'd take Karen's suggestion and climb the tree to watch the show. He didn't have to bring Cain, after all. The hawk could (and no doubt would) find suitable shelter from the noise.

A faint tug on the lure distracted Cliff, and he turned his concentration back to fishing.

* * *

_Karen like berries, right? So she probably likes berry pie, too,_ Jack thought to himself as he examined the shelves beneath the clear glass cover at the bakery. He'd been surprised that he'd actually had two other offers to watch the fireworks, but he'd politely declined both Popuri and Ann, explaining he'd already been asked by someone else. They'd both been understanding, though he thought Ann had seemed a trifle disappointed as well. He shrugged slightly, and asked Jeff for one of the pies. He paid for it, settled it carefully at the bottom of his backpack, and walked out of the bakery. It was still early yet, and the fireworks wouldn't start until eight that evening, so he returned to his farm.

He'd bought and planted some grass in preparation for his first livestock purchase, and figured he might as well plant some more, since there was time. Ann had said something about how Doug wouldn't sell livestock unless he knew the buyer had enough grass on hand, so Jack wanted to make sure he planted plenty. Rolling up his sleeves, he got to work.

As a result, it grew dark almost without his noticing, and by the time he realized how late it was, it was seven forty-five. Enough time to get to the place Karen had indicated...if he ran. Throwing down his tools, he hurried back to the cabin to grab the pie, then dashed out to the crossroads and into the mountains. He found the tree Karen had told him of, and climbed it rather more clumsily than he would have if he had been taking his time. He got to the top and leapt the short distance to the cliff, looking around for Karen, an apology on his lips at being so late.

It was not Karen he saw, however, but Cliff. He was sitting a ways back from the edge of the drop off, looking at Jack with a half-bemused, half-amused expression on his face.

"I uh..." Jack started to say, but was drowned out by the first shriek and explosion of the fireworks. Cliff gave him a "What can you do?" sort of look, and he shrugged and grinned, taking a seat beside the other man.

The fireworks were every bit as spectacular as Karen had pronounced them to be. Jack let out a breath and leaned back on his hands to stare up at the sky. From time to time, he couldn't help but steal curious glances at Cliff, who sat with his legs drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his knees, much as he had been sitting on the first day they had met.

Cliff stared up at the sky with a small smile on his face. As Jack thought about it, this was perhaps the first time he had ever seen the other man look so open and peaceful. Granted, they'd only known each other for a handful of weeks, but during that time, Jack had formed the impression the Cliff wasn't happy too often. Sneaking another glance at him, Jack wondered why that was. The vision of Cliff's gently smiling face illuminated by the fireworks caused a burst of warmth to bloom in his chest, and he found himself wishing he could see that face more often.

After about twenty minutes, the fireworks wound down, leaving trails of quickly diminishing smoke hanging in the sky like wispy ghosts.

"Pretty good, huh?" Jack was the first to break the silence, turning towards Cliff with a grin. Cliff smiled back, and Jack noted it was a different smile than the one he'd worn while watching the fireworks. This one was more careful, guarded. Jack wanted to frown in puzzlement, but instead, he pulled his rucksack over from where he'd dropped it and removed the pie he'd intended to share with Karen. She wasn't here, but Cliff was, so it was her loss. He'd tell her about it later, to see how she reacted.

"Do you like pie?" he asked, pulling the protective cellophane off the pastry.

"Yeah, I like it," Cliff answered in a strangled voice. Jack glanced at him curiously, and he loudly cleared his throat. He was grateful it was so dark, so that Jack wouldn't see the flush he felt creeping along his cheeks. Jack pulled a butter knife from the bag, and proceeded to cut into the pie. "Sorry I don't have any forks," he said cheerfully as he carefully maneuvered a slice into Cliff's outstretched hands.

"It's better this way," Cliff told him, relieved that his voice had returned to normal.

"You think so too, huh?" Jack smiled again, and cut a piece for himself. "Well, cheers!" he toasted with his slice of pie, then bit eagerly into the crust. Dark berry filling oozed out the sides and into his hand. Cliff smiled to himself and followed suit.

The pie was delicious, and they finished it off quickly between the two of them. _better this way,_ Jack mused, smiling. If he'd shared it with Karen, he sensed there was probably a highly likely possibility that there would have been leftovers. Not that he would have minded, but leftovers tended to require refrigeration, and he was not yet in possession of a fridge.

"Delicious," Cliff commented, licking the last of the spilled filling off of his hands enthusiastically.

"Mmm hmmm," Jack agreed, cleaning his own hands in similar fashion. All in all, despite Karen's conspicuous absence, this had been a wonderful evening. Somehow, he felt more comfortable when he was around Cliff than he did when he was with the Vineyard girl, though he considered her a friend.

"Damn...I'd better get home and into my bed," Jack said a short while later, breaking yet another companionable silence. "I've got to get the tomatoes and corn into the ground tomorrow." he winced slightly as he remembered. He was so tired of planting, after getting all that grass seed into the ground. Ah, well.

"Hey, you still haven't come by to see my chicken yet," he said abruptly as he remembered. Cliff looked startled.

"You're right, I haven't!"

"Come by tomorrow," Jack told him. "I've got a chick on the way too...it may very well arrive tomorrow." It was too dark to see now, but there was a smile in Jack's voice. Cliff felt his own mouth lifting into a smile.

"I will," he said.

"Good!" Gathering up the now-empty pie tin and the knife, Jack stuffed them back into his rucksack and stood. "See you tomorrow, then!" With that farewell, he walked over to the side of the cliff and slid down the side, raising a cloud of dust as he did so. Then, safely at the bottom, he took off for home.

Cliff remained where he was for some time, staring up at the stars and thinking.

_There's probably no way he'll ever like me like that,_ he told himself sadly, watching the three bright stars of Orion's belt twinkle and glitter in the velvet sky. _He was expecting to meet someone else up here, I think,_ But who? Not that it mattered, really. Except he wondered who in this town would be rude enough to invite Jack to meet with them, and then stand him up. Thinking about it wouldn't help much, not with the small amount of information he had. Which was basically nothing. Shrugging, he put the matter aside. It wouldn't do him any good to think about it. It probably wouldn't do to think about the evening they had just spent together, either. It would just end up sending him back into his spiraling depression, which had been set off by his unceremonious dismissal from a different man's arms.

_I'll just have to be content to be friends with him,_ Cliff decided. _I think I can be happy if I can just see him..._

* * *

Karen watched from the shadows as Jack made his way down the path and onto his property. He seemed to be in good spirits despite her absence. He also seemed to be carrying an empty pie tin. Which meant (she hoped) that there had been someone waiting on the cliff to share with. She'd interrogate him when she saw him next, after apologizing for flaking out on him. She did feel bad that she hadn't shown up, but it was all for the greater good, so she'd take a hit for the team, and hopefully, he wouldn't be mad at her.

* * *

To be continued

Author's Notes: Whee, another chapter down. Jack sure is slow, ain't he? He'll pick up though. Karen's going to have to give him some serious prodding, but he will get there. This amuses me, because I normally don't like Karen all that much...But she really seemed like the best choice to moderate this budding relationship. Ann's got a conflict of interest, Maria's rather shy, and both Popuri and Elli...well, I dunno. I picked Karen. I'll probably come out liking her better for it in the long run, so it's like...a win-win situation.

I like comments almost as much as I like critical feedback. Which is a lot. See you in chapter 4.


	4. Counting Sheep

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon 64 and all related characters are property of Natsume. This story is written for entertainment purposes only, and not one red cent is being made off its existence. (As one would assume would be obvious, as it's posted on fanfiction dot net) 

Coming Home

Chapter 4: Counting Sheep

"I really don't think this is a good idea," his father said for perhaps the tenth time, frowning at him. "What about college? What about getting a real job? How do you know you're not going to lose interest in this, and end up wasting years of your life?"

"What about all that stuff?" Jack argued, irritated. "This farm is important to me. I don't want it buried under rocks and weeds until the end of time! You grew up here, shouldn't you feel the same way?

His father sighed and adjusted the tie of his suit. The man had risin from his humble beginnings, gotten an education, and made something of himself...just like twenty-something other men in his cramped office. Even if Jack wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life, he knew what he didn't want to do when he saw it, and putting on a suit and tie every day and going into a cramped, stale office day in and day out was definitely something on his "NOT to do" list.

His father, thankfully, had given up arguing by this time. The argument about whether or not Jack should take over his grandfather's farm had gone on for upwards of two hours before this point, and Dad was ready to concede. "At least there are some pretty girls around here. If nothing else, you might finally get yourself married."

Jack winced. His father had been constantly going on about him finally finding himself a girlfriend when he had turned 18 a few years ago, and it was rather a sore point by now. However, he merely smiled and nodded as he always did whenever the subject came up. Anything to get his father back down the mountain to the train station.

"Well, good luck," the old man said grudgingly. "I'll come visit in a few years to see how you're doing."

"See ya, Pops," Jack said. He watched his father walk away for a time, then turned and returned to the farm.

* * *

Jack awoke and stared up at the dark ceiling, feeling vaguely disturbed. What on earth had triggered that particular memory? And as a dream, no less? The dream had been so vivid, he could even now almost smell the aroma of cigarettes, which followed after his dad wherever the man went. So he wasn't making as much money working as a farmer as his father was making in his office...so what? He had expenses, after all, which were crucial to the health of the farm. The grass seed he'd recently bought had put quite a dent in his pocket, but once he had a few sheep and a cow, they'd start paying for both the seed and themselves with wool and milk. And the corn and tomatoes he'd started would, once they grew up, produce until the end season, so he wouldn't be constantly buying more seeds. Frowning at the doubts which had been dredged to the forefront of his mind by the dream, he turned over on his side to take a look at the clock on his bedside table. 5:45 am.

"Close enough," he muttered, rolling all the way out of bed and to his feet. Stifling a yawn, he pulled on a clean shirt and his coveralls and boots, humming tunelessly under his breath to distract himself from his thoughts. Abruptly remembering that the egg he'd placed in the incubator in the chicken coop was very near to hatching, he crammed his breakfast (two rice-balls, as usual) into his mouth and rushed out of the cabin, leaving the front door cracked so that Jiro could nudge his way outside when he woke up.

The happy discovery of a fuzzy yellow baby chick hopping around after Greta in the chicken coop was sufficient to drive all negative thoughts about his father and his father's insistence towards marriage out of his mind. Taking Greta carefully under his arm and holding the baby just as carefully in his other hand, he moved them both outside to the pen, where he spread a generous handful of grain for them to eat.

"Jack!" turning at the sound of his name, Jack's good spirits rose another notch at the sight of Cliff making his way towards him.

"Don't walk on the grass!" he cautioned, as Cliff started to cut through the fields.

"Sorry," Cliff grimaced, and made his way carefully around the patches which were obviously sown with seed.

"No worries," Jack said, turning away from Cliff and back towards where Greta and her chick were feeding, looking like nothing more than a proud father.

"So it hatched, huh?" Cliff said, drawing even with Jack and standing next to him.

"Yup yup!" A glance at Jack revealed him to be grinning like a buffoon. A happy buffoon. Cliff couldn't help but smile too.

"So what's her name?"

"Dunno yet...Can you think of one?"

Cliff was silent for a moment, pondering. Then he said, "Gwen?"

Jack glanced at him with a considering look.

"It's dumb, isn't it? I'll think of something else..."

"I like it." Jack interrupted, turning back to the little yellow ball of fluff that was peeping quietly as it trailed along after Greta. "Gwen it is. Good call."

Cliff flushed a little but smiled all the same.

"Grow up big and strong, little Gwen," Jack cooed to the small bird, who paused in her single-minded trailing of Greta long enough to cock a beady little eye in his direction.

"I'll let you get back to work," Cliff said after a few moments more of watching the birds.

Jack grimaced but agreed. He walked Cliff up to the cabin, then watched as he disappeared from view up the mountain trail. Turning back to face his farm, Jack felt a spurt of renewed energy. Now that he had a new member of his "family", he was invigorated to work extra hard.

* * *

_"A relationship like ours can't last forever, you know,"_

"Dammit, Owen, get out of my head!" Cliff muttered as he walked back up the mountain. _I don't _want_ another relationship,_ he said to himself, trudging across the foot bridge to the carpenter's side of the river, where the forest got deeper and where the hunting was better. Sure, he had a crush on Jack. That didn't mean anything though, did it? It shouldn't.

"Hey Cliff!" he was temporarily distracted by one of the carpenter's apprentices, who was greeting him from behind the cabin. He waved in acknowledgment but hurried on, towards the Goddess Spring deeper in the woods.

_Just because I wanted to kiss him when he smiled so sweetly at his chickens does _not_ mean that I want any sort of relationship,_ he continued to argue with himself. Of course, he acknowledged that he was arguing with himself, and he knew that despite what he was telling himself he wanted, or perhaps _because_ of that, he also knew he was lying to himself.

Flopping down in a disheveled heap on the bank of the small spring, Cliff lay himself out on his stomach and propped his head up with his hands. He stared at his unhappy reflection in the water, and his unhappy reflection stared back.

_I should leave,_ he thought miserably. _I should find another town to haunt. This one is no good. It keeps reminding me of the unhappy things, and tempts me with other things._ But it was difficult to conceive of such an action, even though he hadn't even been here a full season. _I'm comfortable here,_ he let his chin slide from his hands into the crook of his left elbow, and tucked his right arm around his left to form a pillow of sorts. _No one seems to care that I'm a stranger. They don't ask awkward questions, but they're friendly all the same. I've _never_ been to a town like this one. And I don't want to move on to another._

Sighing softly, Cliff closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, lulled by the distant sound of cicadas and the warm sun beating down onto his back.

* * *

"Sheep, sheep, I have a sheep," Jack was singing happily to himself, as he all but skipped up the trail from the Green Ranch to his own farm. The grass had grown tall and green in the past weeks, and Doug had had no worries about selling him his very first sheep.

"Don't forget to brush it every day now," the older man had warned as the deal was finishing up. Jack had smiled and nodded, even though he thought privately that he didn't need to be told like he was a five year old. He brushed his horse every day, why would he forget his sheep?

He was surprised to find both Cliff and Ann waiting for him as he turned off the path and onto his property. Ann was laughing at something Cliff had said, and Cliff was grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey, guys, do you need something?" Jack asked as he drew nearer, startling the both of them. Cliff's easy-going expression vanished, and Jack felt a small stab of some as-of-yet unidentified emotion in his gut. Ann's expression modified as well, though the transition was simply from mirth to friendly interest.

"Actually, I brought you some cake," she said, producing a box and holding it out to Jack.

"Thanks, Ann!" Jack said, taking the box and opening the lid.

"It's nothing special...I just got it from the bakery, so it's safe to eat..." Ann continued, frowning slightly and sounding aggrieved.

"I'm sure you make cakes equally as well as Elli," Jack said in a placating tone, though he had heard from both Grey and Doug that this was not the case.

"Really? That's nice of you to say!" Ann's smile was back full force, and she turned back to Cliff. "I'm in the mood to bake something now! Wanna come along?"

"Uh, sure!" Cliff said, swept along by Ann's enthusiasm.

"Great! See you, Jack!" Ann smiled and waved, then turned and, nearly dragging Cliff after her, left the property. Jack watched them go with a strange feeling that he wasn't entirely sure was due to the thought of Ann's legendary cooking. He thought about it as he ate his cake, but once he had the cake in his stomach, he wasn't any closer to deciphering what the odd knot of jealousy could mean. Finally, he shrugged, threw away the empty box, and headed off to the barn to let his new sheep out into the pasture.

* * *

"Hey, Jack, come on in!" Karen welcomed him that evening with a smile and a gesture to have a seat. He grinned back and did as she suggested, and was pleasantly surprised when she joined him a few moments later bearing two glasses of wine. She set one in front of him and took the other for herself as she settled onto the bench across from him.

"My treat," she said, winking.

"Hey, thanks!" Jack said, taking a sip.

"No problem," she replied, taking a sip of her own wine in turn. "So, how's life on the farm?" she asked after staring moodily into her glass for a moment. Jack figured she was again lamenting the difference in her family's wine compared to that of her grandmothers.

"Great! I just bought a sheep! And I've got three chickens now, Gertrude hatched the other day, and..." he continued to outline all the goings-ons of his farm, because Karen seemed genuinely interested and maybe, if he kept talking long enough, she'd spring for another round.

His hopes proved well-founded, for as he was talking, their drinks disappeared, and she had to interrupt him twice to get refills.

"So," she said as she settled back onto her bench, pushing his third glass towards him and retaining a firm grip on her own. "Do you like anyone?"

Jack choked.

"Is that a yes?"

"What brought this on?" he demanded after recovering his breath.

Karen shrugged. "You've been here for nearly two seasons now. You know everyone, everyone likes you...so who's that special someone?" she grinned, leaning across the table in a comradely manner, wagging an eyebrow at him.

"Is it Elli? She's cute, and she cooks good,"

"I _like_ her allright..." Jack said, wondering what this was about.

"What about Popuri? She's hot, and she knows a lot about plants,"

"She's nice enough..."

"Maria? Take off those glasses, and she's a real cutie. And smart!"

"I don't really know Maria..."

"Ann? She's a tomboy, but she's still cute."

"Um...I don't really like her like that..."

"I see..."

Karen studied him with knowing green eyes. "Well then...who do you like?"

_Cliff..._ the name whispered across his thoughts before he had time to think, causing his mind to reel. "No one, really," is what he said to Karen, who simply raised one eyebrow and smiled.

"I see," she said again, taking a last long pull of her wine, downing the remainder in three quick gulps. "I've got to get back to work," she said, standing. "I hope we can have another talk again soon!" Smiling, she stood, taking her glass, and made her way back to the counter, where she began a quiet conversation with Duke. Jack remained seated for a few minutes, staring into his half-full glass. Finally, he finished his drink, stood, and made his way quietly out the door to begin weaving his way home.

* * *

To Be Continued

Author's Notes Special thanks to dJeu for the lovely feedback and criticism. I really, _really_ appreciate it. Is it any better? ;  
Um...so yes. I didn't realize Jack would realize his feelings for Cliff so soon...But it'll probably work just fine with my plan for this story anyway. Jack's a little slow on the uptake, as I think I've already established...He's going to be slow working out his feelings on this particular matter as well.

As always, I like comments almost as much as I like critical feedback Which is a lot. See you in chapter 5.


	5. Summer Storm

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon 64 and all related characters are property of Natsume. This story is written for entertainment purposes only, and not one red cent is being made off its existence. (As one would assume would be obvious, as it's posted on fanfiction dot net) 

Coming Home

Chapter 5: Summer Storm

It was a few days after his conversation with Karen when Jack turned on his old television set to investigate the weather channel, searching for enlightenment. Not that he expected to find any, especially not on the weather channel, but hey, he could dream, couldn't he?

All thoughts relating to Karen and his confusing revelation about Cliff were immediately shoved to the back of his mind by something much more demanding of his immediate attention, namely, the nice weather lady announcing the imminent arrival of a rather large hurricane.

"Hurricane Grant will hit our shores early tomorrow morning. Make sure to lock up all your animals and livestock for the coming storm. It's going to be a tough one, folks!" she went on to outline Hurricane Grant's projected path of devastation, using big, meteorological words which Jack did not care to puzzle out at the moment. Despite the fact that the hurricane wasn't due to arrive until the next day, he still hurried outside into the clear, calm morning to round up his animals. _No use taking any chances,_ he told himself as he guided his new sheep, who he had decided to name Toyota, away from the grass he was munching and towards the safety of the sturdy barn. Once inside, Jack put enough fodder in Toyota's feed box to keep him happy for the day, and reminded himself to put more in this evening before he went to bed, in case he was unable to make his way to the barn tomorrow.

After repeating the procedure with his three chickens, Jack let out a small breath of relief, despite the fact that he really had nothing to worry about at this point in time. In fact, the animals would no doubt be fine on their own for most of the day, but he didn't want to take that chance. Straightening his shoulders, he began whistling in an out-of-key sort of fashion, and went to gather up the eggs left behind in the chicken pen.

* * *

Jack awoke the next morning to the sound of the wailing, gusting wind pounding the side of his cabin like an angry god. Jiro was huddled at the foot of his bed between his feet, holding very still, his eyes darting back and forth across the room. Jack sat up to give the dog an encouraging pat on the head, which was accepted with a small whine of appreciation. He couldn't help but smile at that.

"No worries, boy, it's just the wind," Jack assured him, as he swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood. Making his way over to the corner where he kept his ration of rice balls, Jack paused to turn on the TV. There was no reception, which really didn't surprise him a whole lot. Shrugging, he turned it off again and continued onward to his food.

* * *

The day passed agonizingly slowly. When he'd still been in school, he would've killed for an opportunity to do nothing at all for an entire day. However, when he was still in school he'd also had a lot of ways to kill time that did not involve sitting on his bed and alternately staring at the threads in his worn comforter and counting the splinters in the ceiling. As such, he was not enjoying this enforced time off nearly as much as he would have five or six years ago.

After his first attempt to open the door to his cabin had been foiled most expediently by the raging winds and pounding rain outside, he had resigned himself to a day spent alone with Jiro and his thoughts.

And what thoughts he was having. Between realizing that he needed an indoor bathroom and that Jiro had had an accident in the corner by the door, his thoughts mostly centered on the seemingly random conversation he'd had with Karen the other night. What had provoked that, anyway? _Karen_ didn't like him, did she? Oh, Goddess, what if that was the reason she'd started grilling him about who he liked? Karen was a great person, and a good friend, for all he'd only known her since the spring, but he simply could not conjure any romantic feelings towards her, no matter how faint. In fact, he couldn't really conjure any romantic feelings about _any_ of the girls in town. That didn't mean he didn't _like_ them, of course. They were each very nice in their own way, even Ann, who seemed rather rough around the edges.

Of course, he was dancing around a very delicate and as-of-yet undeveloped admission, which his brain simply refused to focus on. Not that he was encouraging it, of course. In fact, both he and his brain seemed to be in agreement that said delicate and as-of-yet undeveloped admission was quite taboo, and therefore, not open to debate. Not that that would make the thought go away entirely, of course. So to blockade it off, he distracted himself by thinking of other people, who were, thankfully, both quite abundant and not subject to these weird thoughts he was having. Unfortunately, no matter how he tried, he couldn't force his thoughts entirely away from the five admittedly attractive young women living in the village. Even as he tried to avoid it, the realization that he had never found a single woman in his life, no matter how attractive she was, to be anything more than a possible friend squirmed its way through his thoughts.

_It's getting time for you to admit some stuff about yourself, Jack-o_ the little realization whispered to him.

_Not today, it's not,_ Jack argued.

He paused.

_I'm arguing with myself._ he realized. _That can't be a good sign,_ Sometime around noon, Jack happily fell asleep, and remained that way through the remainder of the day and throughout the night.

* * *

The fish had been practically swarming at the beach this morning, and Cliff was very happy with how quickly so many large, healthy specimens had risen to his bait and sacrificed themselves to his now overflowing basket. He'd weathered the hurricane yesterday in the cave behind the carpenter's cabin. Not really a bad place at all, it had to be said. The cave was dim, but very dry, and provided plenty of shelter from both beating wind and pounding rain. Pretty ideal, all things considered. And he'd even been able to scavenge some of the edible herbs that grew near the entrance, so he hadn't gone completely hungry, either.

Cliff whistled happily to himself as he made his way along the cross-roads back into the mountain, where he intended to smoke his catch and enjoy a nice, peaceful breakfast by the river. A familiar green cap caught his eye, and he turned to look over at Jack's farm, intending to wave if Jack happened to be looking in his direction.

Jack was not facing him, but his fields, which Cliff could see had been pretty badly beat up by yesterday's hurricane. Something about the slump in Jack's shoulders made him pause for a moment, wondering if the other man was alright.

Apparently he was not, for only a few moments after Cliff had stopped to stare at Jack's back, Jack's legs sort of fell out from under him and he seated himself rather abruptly on top of the shipping bin. More than a little concerned, Cliff hurried onto the property, and setting his basket carefully down by the dog house, moved over to Jack.

"Hey," he said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Jack, who seemed quite dazed, didn't even start at the sudden contact. He turned to see who had come up behind him and gazed at Cliff for a moment with a dull, disconnected gaze before blinking in recognition.

"Hey, Cliff," he said, attempting some semblance of his normal cheerful attitude. Cliff stared at him for a moment in concern, mind reeling. He'd never expected Jack, cheerful, bubbly, happy Jack, could ever feel depressed. Admittedly, he hadn't known Jack for all that long, but in that short time, Cliff had never seen him unhappy. Witnessing this new side of Jack caused Cliff's stomach to do funny things, which he didn't really like.

"Don't go anywhere, I'll be back as fast as I can," he said after a moment, squeezing Jack's shoulder before turning about. He gently disengaged Jiro from his basket; the dog had taken the opportunity to begin investigating the fish while Cliff was distracted. Basket in hand, he hurried off.

Jack barely registered him leaving. He just turned back to stare out over his once pristine fields. Rubble he had worked so hard to remove had returned, flattening large patches of grass. The fences of his animal pens were broken in multiple places. Worst of all, huge bits of his crop fields had been uprooted, the dying plants spread around the field like so much litter. All the time and energy he had poured into planting and tending the corn and tomatoes wasted. There were still many plants left standing, but what appeared less than half of what he had originally planted remained - and those were very bedraggled and weak-looking.

"I'm back," a voice announced. Jack turned his gaze away from his devistated fields to regard Cliff, who was quickly approaching him. He was carrying something large and heavy-looking in his left hand. As he drew closer, Jack saw that it was a 12-pack of beer.

"C'mon, let's go inside," Cliff said, putting his right hand on Jack's arm and pulling him to his feet with surprising strength. "No need to look at this anymore today," he said, maneuvering the surprised but cooperative farmer into his cabin. After allowing Jack to drop onto one of the two stools set before the small table in the middle of the room, Cliff plunked the case of beer down on the table. He opened it, removed the first can from the top, and offered it to Jack, who accepted it with the grace of a blind man.

"Where'd you get this?" Jack asked half-way through his second can.

"Zach," Cliff said with a smile.

"Should'a known," Jack grinned, causing Cliff to smile back. It wasn't up to his usual level of cheerful-ness, but Cliff was pleased that it was definitely more sincere than Jack's earlier attempt.

"I really ought to get to work..." Jack said after his third can. He was frowning slightly now, in a vaguely drunken way, causing Cliff to wonder if he'd even eaten breakfast that morning. "Hey!" Jack said suddenly. "You're distracting me!" Eyes which had become wide at this sudden revelation became wider still when Cliff easily agreed.

"No sense in staying depressed," he said amiably, offering another can. Jack almost looked as though he wanted to refuse, but accepted anyway. "You stay here, I'll be back in a few minutes," Cliff said as Jack opened the new can. So saying, he stood and hurried from the cabin. Jack, now more than just a little inebriated, wasn't sure how long the other man was gone. Ten or fifteen minutes at the most, he guessed, as Cliff stepped back into the cabin.

"Where'd you go?" Jack asked, trying not to slur his words too much. His gaze moved from Cliff to the now empty can in his hand. Was it his fifth, or his sixth? Blearily, he tried to focus on the open cans standing in crooked rows on the table, and saw that there were six. So that would make the one in his hand number seven.

"I went to feed your animals," Cliff said, settling himself down again.

"Oh," Jack said. Then, "Thanks," a moment later.

"No worries,". They sat in silence for a moment.

"I'm _really_ drunk," Jack announced.

"Want to go to bed?" Cliff asked.

"I think that might be a good idea," Jack said, blinking. Beer on top of an empty stomach on top of depression was not a good combination. He made his way over to his bed with minimal trouble, then collapsed on top of it, half his legs hanging off the edge. In a moment, he was snoring gently. Cliff stared at him for a long moment. Once he realized he had progressed from passively staring to actively ogling, he shook his head, and moved over to pull off Jack's boots. Lifting up his legs, Cliff maneuvered Jack more firmly onto his bed, where he immediately settled into a more comfortable position. Smiling to himself, Cliff quietly gathered up the empty cans and remaining beer, then silently left the cabin.

* * *

To Be Continued

Author's Notes: I had actually intended to put a second part to this chapter, but it was already this long before I realized it. So the second part, which will no doubt be equally as long, will become its own chapter. In the grand scheme of things, that probably doesn't matter too much. Apologies for the somewhat awkward phrasing in some places. I couldn't think of a better way to put some things, so they shall remain until the day I can come up with something better. Comments and Criticism welcome! See you in Chapter 6.


	6. A Twist of Fate

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon 64 and all related characters are property of Natsume. This story is written for entertainment purposes only, and not one red cent is being made off its existence. (As one would assume would be obvious, as it's posted on fanfiction dot net) 

Coming Home

-Chapter 6: A Twist of Fate-

Summer had progressed quietly and uneventfully into Autumn. Corn and Tomatoes had made way for eggplants. A second sheep (Mitsubishi) and a new cow (Umeko) had joined Toyota in Jack's barn, and the chicken shed was nearing full capacity with its five inhabitants. The leaves on the trees in the mountain had burst forth with stunning autumn colors - red, orange and yellow. Mushrooms and wild grapes grew abundant in the mountain, and the grapes at the Vineyard were nearing peak ripeness. Chilly breezes blew down from the mountain into the village, carrying with them the scents of fall: Smoking fish and damp earth. The inhabitants of Flower Bud Village were happily preparing for the coming winter - for even though Autumn had just begun, the villagers knew that it wouldn't be around forever, and that Winter would seem much longer if they had failed to prepare themselves properly.

All told, life on the mountain was peaceful and happy.

Cliff was in a bit of a delimma.

It had been a rather stupid mistake on his part. He'd misjudged the distance from the top of the cliff behind the carpenter's cabin to the ground, and had jumped rather more carelessly than he should have.

"Owowowowowow..." he muttered to himself as he clutched his left leg, just above the ankle. He'd twisted it quite splendidly as he landed from the aforementioned leap from the ledge. He had been prowling around up the mountain in the wee hours of the morning, hoping to find some more wild grapes. There had been none, so he was returning to his more usual haunts by jumping down from the cliff. He'd done it innumerable times before since he'd been here, and not a single problem. Why he'd suddenly twisted his ankle _now_, he couldn't imagine.

A faint rustling somewhere above his head caught his attention, and he looked up. Cain had settled himself in a tree branch directly above Cliff, and was peering down at him with what could only be called a curious expression in his eyes.

"Cain!" Cliff gasped, smiling up at his bird despite the pain in his ankle. "Can you go get help?" Cain cocked his head to one side, then the other, and blinked once.

"Go get help?" Cliff repeated, blinking back at the bird. The carpenters wouldn't be awake for hours yet, and he didn't fancy sitting here in the cold, damp grass with a twisted ankle any longer than was absolutely necessary. Cain stared at him for a moment more, then turned himself around on his perch and took off, dipping close to the ground as he caught air beneath his wings, then soared into the sky. Cliff watched the bird's small form drift over towards the village. He grinned to himself and snorted, trying to shift into a more comfortable position. "What's that, Lassie? Little Timmy's fallen down the well again?" he mocked his situation in a squeaky falsetto, then chuckled hollowly at his predicament. He only hoped someone, somewhere, was awake.

(x)

Jack was awakened rather more abruptly than he was used to by the sound of Jiro barking loudly and frantically at the front door. As Jiro was not in the habit of barking, Jack quickly tumbled out of bed, pulled on his overalls, and made his bare-footed way over to the door to see what was going on.

Upon opening the door, he blinked at the dark shape perched on the top of Jiro's dog house. Jiro poked his head through the opening between Jack's legs and the doorframe to continue barking, though Jack noted with some amusement that the small dog showed no intention of actually making his way outside.

"Coward," he muttered affectionately, before returning his attention to the bird seated upon the dog house. Stepping out into the pre-dawn chill, Jack immediately wished he'd thought to put on his boots. A shirt of some sort might not have gone amiss either, truth to tell. Shrugging off the cold, he focused his attention on the bird, which he now recognized the dark-brown form of Cain, Cliff's hawk.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked the bird curiously. He shuffled a few steps closer, thinking to shoo the hawk off, so that he could go back to sleep. Cain spread his wings and took off, but landed a few yards away on the fence that divided the farm from the crossroads. Jack blinked, then shrugged. Jiro, a little braver now that the intruder had placed some distance between them, edged out of the cabin and went to stand by his master. Jack, for his part, was scratching his head in puzzlement. After a moment, he shrugged and turned to go back inside.

Cain squawked loudly from his perch on the fence.

"Uh..." Jack remarked intelligently. Cain spread his wings and returned to his original perch atop the dog house, which caused Jiro to scamper back indoors. Safely inside, he resumed his barking. Ignoring the dog, Jack stared at Cliff's hawk. The hawk stared back, squawked a second time, then flew back to the fence.

"Do you want me to follow you?"

Cain simply stared.

Jack took a few steps towards the fence, and the bird remained where he was, golden eyes staring. As he neared the fence, Cain took off again, but only as far as a tree a few yards down the lane. Jack, curious, hurried to catch up. Thus it was in this manner that Cain lead Jack into the forest.

(x)

Cliff had eased his way over to a nearby tree and leaned his back against the trunk, injured leg stuck straight out in front of him. He was using his right leg as a make-shift pillow, hugging his knee close and resting his forehead on it. He looked up when he heard the rustle of feathers, and saw Cain settle onto the branch above his head. A moment later, he heard a voice call his name, and his heart skipped a beat when he caught sight of the caller. He'd been cold a moment before, but the sight of Jack, bare-footed and shirtless, brought heat to his face.

"Cliff! What happened?" Jack asked as he drew nearer.

"Twisted my ankle," he muttered, slightly embarassed at his predicament.

"Can you walk?" Came the inevitable question.

"Uhm...no."

"Huh." For a moment, Jack looked completely flummoxed. He scratched his head and stared down at Cliff with a positively delightful expression of puzzlement on his face. Despite the pain in his ankle, Cliff had to bite his lip to keep from grinning at Jack's expression.

"Well...guess I'll have to carry you, then." Jack had come to a decision, and almost before Cliff knew what was happening, he found himself being lifted into Jack's strong arms.

"Um, th-this really isn't n-necessary!" Cliff stuttered, blushing.

"What else do you propose? Put your arm around my neck, your shoulder's digging into my collarbone," Jack responded in a no-nonsense sort of voice. Cliff meekly did as he was told. _Is this some sort of dream?_ he wondered as Jack began to make his way out of the forest with Cliff cradled carefully against his chest. Half a year of farm work had done wonders for Jack's city-dweller physique. Well-formed pecs were clearly visible beneath the bib of Jack's overalls, and his arms were well sculpted. Cliff had no doubt that the legs currently taking the pair of them down the mountain were finely toned as well. Cliff relaxed slightly, and allowed himself to enjoy the sensation of being held in Jack's arms.

Jack, for his part, was keenly aware of the man he carried. For all that he lived in the mountains and didn't have access to a bath, there was very little odor about him. Jack supposed that he must bathe in the river, and suddenly found the image of a naked, wet Cliff submerged to his waist in the icy-cold mountain water invading his imagination. Heat rushed to his face, and he blinked rapidly to dispel the image. It went, but it went reluctantly, and he had a feeling he'd be revisiting it before long. To distract himself, he initiated a conversation.

"Nice weather today, eh?"

_Nice going, Jack. You, my friend, are a MORON,_ he told himself.

"What? Oh, yes, it is."

_That...was really random,_ Cliff thought.

"Um...so how's life in the mountain?" Jack tried again.

"Pretty good. There's lots of wild plants to eat, and the hunting's not bad," Cliff responded, keeping his gaze firmly on Jack's collarbone, which was about an inch away from his face. If he'd looked up, he would have seen that Jack was blushing several shades of crimson. Jack kept his gaze firmly on the path in front of him, watching for stones and twigs that would not be friendly to his bare feet. Had he looked down, he would've seen that Cliff was also blushing several shades of crimson.

There was silence for a moment.

"How's the farm?" Cliff asked.

"Great! I've got another sheep, and a new cow now, and two more chickens, and..." Jack was perfectly content to rattle on about the goings-on of his farm. By the time they arrived at the farm, both men had managed to control their blushes, though Cliff's shortly re-emerged as he was carried into Jack's cabin and carefully settled onto Jack's bed.

I'm going to take off your shoes," Jack told him, and proceeded to do so. The right one came off easily enough, but the moment Jack touched the left, Cliff hissed involuntarily.

"Hurts, huh?" Jack grimaced in sympathy, but proceeded to remove the shoe anyway. Cliff had to admit that it was done gently enough, though he was surprised at the gentleness in Jacks calloused, tanned hands. After a moment of thought, though, he realized that he really oughtn't to be - This was the same man who handled his chickens daily, and who carefully nurtured the tiny, yellow chicks.

"Lie down," Jack ordered. Cliff did as he was told, while Jack rummaged under the bed. He came up with an extra quilt, and quickly rolled it into a short, thick cylinder. Very carefully, he slipped it under Cliff's injured leg, elevating the plainly swollen ankle.

"I'm going to go get some help. I'll be back in a little while," Jack said, once he was sure Cliff was comfortable. He quickly pulled on a shirt and his boots, then went out. Cliff watched him go, feeling a little dazed. He could hardly believe his situation - here he was, in Jack's bed. Sure, Jack wasn't here with him, and his ankle was swollen and hurting like crazy, but in a situation like this, one took what one could get.

(x)

He wasn't aware he'd fallen asleep until he woke up. Cliff opened his eyes to stare into the kindly face of the village midwife, who was examining him with concern while she spoke gruffly to Jack.

"Hmph! Can't say I'm pleased about being roused from my bed at this ungodly hour," she was muttering as she examined Cliff's ankle. "But I can see why you came to get me."

Jack was standing a few feet away, respectfully keeping his distance while he gently banged a large plastic sack full of ice against his leg.

"Twisted, not broken, thank the Goddess. Here, boy, give me that ice," she snapped. Jack surrendered the bag, and the old woman placed it carefully on Cliff's ankle. The pain of the contact was quickly washed away in the blessed coolness of the ice. Cliff watched warily as the midwife stepped back and fixed him with a stern eye.

"You're not to walk anywhere for the rest of the week, young man. Not unless you want to make this worse. And once you're better, I suggest you be more careful, arsing about in the mountain day in and day out as you are. Young people these days," she shook her head and seemed to be talking to herself. "Think they're all invincible, they do." Turning her attention to Jack, she continued at a regular volume, "I'll send my boy over with a cooler and more ice in a little while. Make sure you keep the ankle elevated and keep the ice on it." With those final instructions, she turned and sailed gracefully out the door, her full skirts swishing the floor gently as she walked. Once he was quite sure she was gone, Cliff tried to sit up.

"A week? I can't stay here for a week!"

"Don't be stupid, of course you can," Jack said, moving swiftly to the side of the bed and pushing him gently back against the pillows.

"But...but...I'm in your _bed!_"

"That's fine, I can sleep on the floor for a week," Jack said easily, hooking his thumbs in his pockets and grinning. "It'll be like a slumber party!"

"But..." For all he wanted to protest, Cliff could really think of no valid objection. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go, after all.

"No buts. You should just relax and get better. I'll take care of you," Jack assured him with a smile.

Cliff found himself smiling back, if a little more nervously than Jack.

"Good, that's settled, then." Jack said, interpreting Cliff's smile as acceptance. "I've got to go take care of my farm, but I'll be back around noon with some food. In the mean time, here," as he spoke, he produced two rice balls, and held them out to Cliff.

"Oh, no, I really couldn't..." Cliff said, holding up a hand to protest. It was at that very moment, however, when his stomach chose to let out with a very audible gurgle, and Cliff blushed. Jack laughed, then grabbed him by the wrist and placed the two rice balls carefully in Cliff's hand. Cliff blushed harder and looked down as Jack held his wrist, and missed the vaguely uncomfortable look on Jack's face.

"I'll be back to check in on you in a little while," he was told, and Jack made a swift exit. Cliff stared after him for a moment, then turned his attention to the food in his hand.

(x)

True to his word, Jack checked in every hour, and dutifully replaced bags of melted ice with fresh bags, which he obtained from the cooler Zach had delivered shortly after the midwife's departure.

The two men conversed amiably if a little awkwardly through lunch, and Jack escaped after about thirty minutes to continue with his farm work. Cliff felt insanely awkward just laying in Jack's bed, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was incredibly uncomfortable with the whole situation. Every time before now, he'd been able to mutter an excuse and escape when he began to feel awkward around Jack, but now he could do no such thing. He felt like a trapped animal, whose only choice was to wait in terrified suspense for its fate to be announced. And he was terrified, even if he wouldn't fully admit it to himself. Unable to escape, he had to face his fears full-on, and that was not something he liked to do.

He and Jack shared a quiet dinner that night, and Jack got himself a quilt and a pillow from under the bed and made himself comfortable on the floor in front of the TV. His breathing evened out moments after he had settled down, and Cliff turned his head in astonishment to stare at the calmly sleeping form of his secret crush. He wished _he_ could fall asleep that easily.

_I'll never be able to sleep tonight,_ he thought to himself as he stared at the peacefully slumbering Jack.

(x)

"I'm sorry I didn't think of this yesterday," Jack said around a stack of books he had cradled in his arms.

"Where'd you get those?" Cliff asked, his eyes wide.

"Borrowed 'em from the library," was the reply. "I didn't know what you liked, so I got one of everything," he said, settling the rather large selection into a stack on the bedside table. Cliff's eyes moved over the titles printed on the spines of the books. Jack had indeed gotten one of everything - there was action, adventure, horror, mystery, fantasy, science-fiction, non-fiction, romance...

Romance? Cliff raised an eyebrow. Maybe he wouldn't read that one...

"Thanks so much!" he said, smiling up at Jack, who grinned back.

"No problem," he said easily. "Back to work for me, though. Enjoy!" With a little wave, Jack departed, and Cliff picked up the top book from the stack. He'd never been much of a reader, but he figured with little else to do all day in this cabin, this might be a good time to start.

Cliff discovered that he quite liked reading, and was pleased to learn that Jack also enjoyed the activity. Thus, lunch on the second day of Cliff's confinement to bed was passed much more comfortably than the day before, as he and Jack discussed the book he'd begun reading.

"It started out a little slow, but once it got going, I got really into it!" Cliff was saying.

"I know, that's how it was for me too. How far have you gotten?"

"I just finished the part where..."

"Oh, yeah, that's a good bit! You haven't gotten to my favorite scene in the book quite yet, though."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I'm looking forward to it, then!"

Both men were so into their conversation they didn't have time to feel uncomfortable. Once Jack returned to his work, Cliff happily picked up his book and continued to read.

(x)

"I've got a surprise!" Jack announced one evening - the evening of the fourth day of Cliff's confinement to bed.

"What is it?" Cliff asked curiously, looking up from his book.

Jack held up two large, wrapped packages. "Elli heard about your fall, and she baked you a get-well dinner!"

Cliff was surprised. He knew who Elli was, of course - she came to the mountains every Monday and spent the entire day fishing. She was a pretty good angler. He said hello to her when he saw her, of course, but other than that, he never interacted with her.

He wondered what to say for a moment, and quickly settled for, "wow, that's really nice of her!"

"I know, isn't it? And there's enough for two!" Jack said as he carefully settled his burdens down on the table. Cliff watched as Jack opened them, and his mouth began to water in anticipation when the smells of the food within began to emerge. Jack inhaled appreciatively, and began to divide the food into two portions.

There was smoked fish - to be expected from Elli, because that was one of _her_ favorites - a good, rich stew full of vegetables, and a loaf of fresh baked bread. She had also included a whole berry pie for dessert, and both Cliff and Jack were reminded of the pie they had shared during the fireworks festival.

There was no dinner conversation that night, as both men were too busy consuming the delicious meal Elli had gifted them with.

As he ate, Jack carefully watched Cliff. The other man was eating animatedly, and he seemed to have finally relaxed, which made Jack happy. He wanted Cliff to be comfortable around him. He realized with a start that perhaps Cliff couldn't be comfortable around him, because he felt uncomfortable around Cliff. His gaze shifted from the handsome man sitting up in his bed to the soup in his bowl. How could he be truly comfortable around Cliff, when he was having all these strange thoughts running through his mind?

"Are you okay?" Cliff asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Uh...yeah! Just thinking," he said hurriedly. He realized he'd stopped eating, and that was what had drawn Cliff's attention. He lifted a spoonful of stew to his mouth hurriedly, glancing up at Cliff to see him smile, nod, and return to his own meal.

He wondered suddenly what types of food Cliff ate normally - he figured, of course, that the other man ate a lot of wild foods which could be found in the mountain - grapes, mushrooms and herbs would be the norm for this season, he mused. Probably Cliff ate quite a bit of fish, too. Not much variety, though Jack probably couldn't talk - not with the amount of rice balls _he_ consumed on a daily basis. Come to that, this meal that Elli had cooked for the two of them (well, primarily for Cliff, but also for Jack, by association) was a break from the norm for him as well.

Jack resolved to build a kitchen soon so that he could cook his own meals. He'd have Cliff over for dinner then. That thought made him both nervous and excited - kind of like a shy new wife cooking food for her husband...

What the hell? Where had _that_ come from? Jack firmly shoved _that_ thought out of his head - that was the sort of thing he needed the least right now.

As the food disappeared, the two men managed to begin a bit of conversation - but Jack, flustered and not a little alarmed by his earlier thought processes, excused himself as quickly as he could without being rude and returned outside to do his after dinner chores.

Cliff, for his part, wondered what it was that had caused Jack to flush so suddenly as he ate.

(x)

The rest of the week passed quickly, and Cliff was able to stand up and walk on his ankle as though he had never twisted it. He left Jack's place early in the afternoon, thanking him profusely all the while.

"Thank you _so_ much for letting me stay,"

"It wasn't a problem at all. You're welcome any time, you know," Jack said, blushing a little.

"Well...thanks," Cliff had no idea what else to say. "I'll uh...I'll see you around, then." Suddenly shy for some reason he couldn't fathom, Cliff smiled and hurried quickly away - an escape a week overdue.

Jack stared after him, feeling both relieved and sad. Relieved because he would no longer have the object of his progressively more disturbing thoughts living under the same roof as him, and sad for that exact same reason.

"I can't believe this...I have a crush on a guy," he whispered to himself as Cliff disappeared from view.

-To Be Continued-

(x)x(x)x(x)

Authors Notes: First, I want to thank everyone for their kind reviews. Second, I want to apologize to those same people for making them wait so long. I have this tendency to begin projects, and sort of...forget about them, half-way through. I'll try to be better about this in the future, especially since so many people have expressed their enjoyment of this story.

So we've got Cliff, who has a crush on Jack...And we've got Jack, who's finally admitted to himself that he's got a crush on Cliff. Silly boy, it took him long enough. And it's going to take him even longer to do anything about it. See you all next chapter. Any and all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, but other comments are also welcome.


	7. The Harvest Festival

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon 64 and all related characters are property of Natsume. This story is written for entertainment purposes only, and not one red cent is being made off its existence. (As one would assume would be obvious, as it's posted on fanfiction dot net) 

Coming Home

-Chapter 7: The Harvest Festival-

Jack woke up the morning after Cliff had left feeling both depressed and relieved. He had grown used to Cliff's presence in the short time he had stayed in his cabin, and, once the pair of them had overcome the initial awkwardness, had liked it quite well. He was relieved, though, for that very same reason: He had liked it quite well - _too_ well, some might say. His father would no doubt have a thing or two to say if he ever found out that his son was crushing on some man. And not just any man, either. As he lay on his back in his bed, his mind involuntarily began to construct the reaction his father would have to the news.

_"Homeless, uneducated, uncultured...What the hell are you _thinking?_ Or are you even thinking at all? He's a _man!

Jack winced. Yup, he could too well imagine his father's reaction to _that_ particular bit of news.

_"Gay? _My_ son? I think not!"_ His father's spectral voice continued to echo through his mind. Jack groaned softly and squirmed further under the blankets, trying to block the non-existent voice.

_Think about something else, Jack-o. It's not like you're sleeping together or anything. Hell, there's not even a chance that he likes you like that anyway! It's one-sided, and nothing Dad _ever_ has to know about!_

With only that single, not-very-reassuring thought for comfort, Jack was quite reluctant to emerge from his bed and face the day. Only when the increasingly agitated clucking of a small flock of hungry chickens reached his ears did he fling back the comforter and get up.

He absentmindedly fed and watered his various animals as his revelation about Cliff (and, incidentally, _himself_) continued to occupy his thoughts. The animals, picking up on his unhappy vibes, were quiet and subdued as he tended to him.

By the time he had his crops watered, Jack had decided that what he needed was a change of scenery. He made his way off of his property and, rather unthinkingly, up into the mountains with the vague notion of climbing to the peak and surveying the sights.

He met no one as he made his way behind the carpenter's cabin and proceeded to climb the tree next to the cliff that was the only way to the top of the mountain. He idly wondered if anyone was ever going to build a bridge across the chasm that cut across the path on the other side of the river. It sure would be easier to get up the mountain by crossing a bridge than by climbing a tree.

"Meh...whatever," he shrugged to himself as he leapt from the treetop to the plateau only a foot away. It wasn't like he had any difficulty climbing the tree, or anything. Temporarily forgetting his depression, he flexed his arms and grinned at the hard bulge of muscle that showed beneath the clingy white material of his shirt. Over half a year working on a farm definitely had some personal benefits.

As Jack strolled casually up the mountain path, he continued to distract himself by looking around and taking in the sights. He'd never been this far up the mountain before, and so didn't know what to expect. He was a little surprised when he stumbled upon a small house that looked a bit like a run-down _ryokan_, a Japanese-style inn. No one was about, and he wasn't feeling particularly like company, so he decided to leave discovering if anyone still lived there for another day. As he went to move on past the little building, though, a gleam of bright yellow-orange caught his eye in the shrubbery near the building's front door.

Curious, he stepped up to it and saw that growing on the shrub was a strawberry sized fruit of some sort. Leaning down to examine it closely, he was engulfed by a mild, sweet aroma that was definitely emanating from the berry. Shrugging, he plucked it from its vine and put it carefully into his pack. He'd ask Popuri or Lilia about it the next time he saw one of them.

(x)

Jack spent several hours seated near the edge of the mountainside overlooking the vast pine forest that grew to the north of the village. His thoughts were just as muddled when he returned down the mountain as they had been that morning. As he leapt down from the cliff, he caught sight of a cloud of pink off to his right in the trees.

"Hi, Jack!" It was Popuri, the young woman who ran the flower shop with her mother.

"Hey, Popuri. How are you?" Despite himself, Jack felt a smile break onto his face. It was hard to be depressed around Popuri. Out of all the young women in Flower Bud Village, she was the most bubbly and cheerful.

"Oh, I could be better," she said, and indeed, she did look a little down.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just me being silly, of course," she assured him. "I don't like the autumn. Sometimes it makes me think I'll never see green again,"

"Oh...I see," Jack said, even though he didn't. "That reminds me, though," he said, swinging his rucksack around so that he could root through it. He found the berry and pulled it out. "Do you know what this is?" he asked, showing it to her.

"Ooooh, a Full-Moon Berry!" she breathed as she gazed at it. "Those are really rare. They only grow for a few days in the middle of autumn, generally on the three days the moon is most full."

"Is that so?" Jack asked, rather surprised. He'd never heard of a plant like that before.

"Oh, yes," Popuri beamed, Autumnal depression temporarily forgotten. "It's why we live here, you know," she said. "Because of all the unique, rare plants that grow on the mountain."

Jack nodded. He'd made passing acquaintance with Basil, Popuri's botanist father this past year. The man had only recently left Flower Bud Village for his yearly pilgrimage to distant lands, in search of new plants. It seemed an awfully silly way for him to live, to be away from his loving wife and daughter for such a long time every year, but Basil seemed happy enough with it. Jack suspected Lilia was rather less happy than Basil with the arrangement, but she never seemed to object. He wondered a little at that, but then shrugged and put the matter out of his mind. It was none of his business anyway, and besides, he had more than enough to think about that _was_ his business.

"I'd best get home," he told Popuri, returning the berry to his pack. "Thanks for the info."

"Any time, Jack. Ask me anything," she said, smiling. Jack returned her smile and waved, then made his way past the carpenter's cabin, across the bridge, and back down to the crossroads to his farm.

Popuri watched him until he was out of sight, and sighed.

(x)

A few days later, Jack awoke quickly and hurried to get dressed. Today was the annual town Harvest Festival, and he was eager to get his chores done so that he could attend. He'd been hearing all sorts off good things about the event for the past several days, and Elli had made a point of telling him he should come.

"It's a fun festival - there's so much good food to eat!" she had said happily, smiling. "It's also when we choose the king for the year, so you should be sure to be there."

Jack knew that the king of the Harvest Festival had the responsibility of presiding over several important events throughout the year, and he was mildly interested in securing the position for himself. He had been told that the selection was made by baking a coin into a cake, and that whoever was served the slice of cake with the coin in it was the next year's king. Jack thought that this sounded like a golden opportunity for Elli or Jeff to play favorites, but it seemed that the pair of them were trusted by the rest of the village not to "rig the election," as it were.

Animals fed and plants watered, Jack made his way through town a little before noon. As he climbed the stairs and stepped into the square, he was surprised and excited to see how things had been set up. Balloons and streamers were strung along the fence around the perimeter, and more streamers and balloons were hung up over the square itself, where they undulated gently in the breeze. Long tables covered in white cloth were set up on either side of the square, leaving the space in the center open for people to wander about. All of the tables were heavily laden with various dishes, each more delicious-looking than the last. Jack's mouth began to water and his stomach growled as his gaze swept over the sea of food.

"Hello, Jack!" Jack looked down, startled. When he saw the silly, bright red top hat and overcoat, he realized that the short, rotund mayor of the village had snuck up on him while he had been admiring the setup.

"Hello," Jack said politely, shaking the pudgy, stubby-fingered hand the man offered.

"Glad that you could make it, young man! Please look around and enjoy the food!"

"Thanks, I will," Jack said with a grin. The mayor smiled back, and said in a conspiratorial voice,

"And don't forget to save a bit of room for dessert,"

"I won't. Thank you, sir," Jack responded. The mayor nodded at him, then turned away and made his way over to greet someone else.

Jack looked around once again, at a bit of a loss for where to begin. Luckily, he spotted Karen standing by a table on the left side of the square, and when he caught her eye she waved him over.

"Here, have some tomato rice," she said, offering him a plate.

"Thanks, I think I will," he responded, taking the plate and the fork she was holding.

"Quite an event, huh?" she said pleasantly. Jack, his mouth full, nodded in agreement.

"Have you seen Cliff yet today?" she asked casually, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. He flushed slightly and shook his head. She couldn't help a small smirk of satisfaction before she forced her features into a neutral expression. So Jack was blushing at the mention of Cliff's name now. Interesting.

"This is really good," he said, once he had swallowed and before he went on to take another bite.

"Thank you. I made it myself," she told him, smiling. Jack's slight blush had boosted her already good mood enormously. She had suspected that there was something not quite...well, _straight_...about Jack after one or two encounters with him back in the Spring, but she hadn't been fully sure that he would ever feel the same way about Cliff as Cliff obviously (to her, anyway) felt about him. Now that she knew she was playing with a full hand, she was quite satisfied. Hopefully she could nudge things along for her shy cousin and the clueless farmer and get...well, _something_ to happen before New Year's. There were plenty of potentially romantic festivals coming up in the Winter, in any event.

"What are you smiling about?" Jack asked, staring at her in an almost accusatory manner.

"I was just thinking about some of the festivals we've got coming up next season," she answered truthfully enough. "Now are you here to talk, or eat?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

Jack grinned and waved his fork. "Eat, obviously," and with that, he began to seriously tuck in.

(x)

Jack made his way around the square slowly but steadily, sampling a little bit of everything. People were more than willing to share their cooking in exchange for his opinion, and so by the time evening was setting in and Elli emerged from somewhere with a large tray of cake, he was quite full. He joined the queue to get his slice of cake, and bumped into Cliff for the first time that day.

"So you are here!" he said as he took the piece of cake Elli handed him. _Just act natural, Jack. Naaaatural,_ he told himself.

Cliff smiled. "I couldn't very well miss out on a festival that promotes free food!" he responded, accepting his own slice from Elli with a smile of thanks in her direction.

"Yeah, this is something else, isn't it?" Jack said, as the pair made their way past the men still waiting for their slice and into a relatively uninhabited section of the square. Cliff nodded in agreement and watched Jack out of the corner of his eye as they each took a bite of their cake. He had seen Jack a few days ago that morning when he had climbed up the mountain, but instead of calling out or going to greet him, he had hidden. He felt kind of silly thinking about it now that they were both here, talking easily. _I should've said 'hi' then,_ he thought to himself.

"How's the ankle?" Jack asked in an offhand manner. Cliff smiled.

"Good, thanks."

There was a slightly awkward silence as both men chewed their cake, each desperate for something to say which wouldn't make him sound like a complete idiot to the other. It was broken by Jack, whose fork had encountered something solid as he cut himself another mouthful.

"Hey!" he said, digging around the solid thing in his cake. "Hey! I've got the coin!" He said this in a sort of half-shout, intended to be heard by the more nearby people.

"What's that? The coin?" The Mayor was pushing his way through the crowd towards the originator of the shout. Jack held it up, trailing cake crumbs. The mayor took it and inspected it carefully, as though inspecting for some counterfeit. When he was satisfied, he held it high over his head (so that it was at about eye-level with most everyone else), and announced, "This year's king is Jack! Congratulations, young man!" The crowd of villagers broke into enthusiastic applause and cheering.

Jack grinned, first at Cliff, then at his congratulators. He was pulled into a round of vigorous hand-shaking and was separated from Cliff. Cliff looked on silently, finishing his cake and watching Jack the entire time, glad for the excuse to be able to stare unabashedly at the object of his affections. He slid into the shadows at the edge of the square when the mayor called for dancing, and watched for a little while longer as Karen grabbed Jack by the wrist and pulled him into a lively jig.

Sighing, Cliff set his now empty plate down at the end of the table closest to the stairs and made his way from the square, into the dark, cool, lonely evening. He didn't particularly feel like watching Jack dancing with girls, even if it was only Karen. He probably liked Karen a lot - she was beautiful, intelligent, and nice. What was not to like? Cliff liked her very well himself, though only as a friend. For Jack, she was probably someone who could be much more than a friend...something Cliff himself could never be, not for Jack. For the first time in a long while, the hated words from his past drifted up to taunt him.

_"A relationship like ours can't last forever, you know,"_

Last week, when he'd been laid up in Jack's bed with a broken ankle, had been probably one of the...hell, it _had_ been the best week of his life. That was over now, a happy, distant memory. _Get over it, Cliff,_ he ordered himself sternly. _You're both men, there's no way it could work out the way you want it too._

Shoving his hands deep into his trouser pockets, Cliff quickened his pace, suddenly eager to return to the solitude of the mountain.

(x)

Ann watched Cliff leave with a puzzled frown. She had been working up the courage to ask him to dance, but he had left, looking vaguely unhappy, before she had gotten the opportunity. She looked to the center of the square, at the dancers, still frowning. The only person dancing that she could possibly see Cliff being put out over was her friend Karen, who was dancing with Jack.

So that was it, then. Cliff must like Karen. It wasn't too hard to see - Karen was beautiful, poised, and (mostly) quiet, whereas she herself was tomboyish, rough, and rather loud. There was really no comparison - it was like trying to compare fine silk and cotton linen. Sighing, she took a seat next to Popuri, who, she noticed, was also watching the dancing with a slightly unhappy expression.

(x)

Jack grinned at Karen, who smiled back at him as she twirled gracefully to the lively music. "You're quite good at this!" he told her during one of the brief moments when they came together as dictated by the lively country dance.

"I live to dance, you know," she said, her green eyes sparkling. And indeed, Jack saw her now in a new light - She was so different when she danced, she seemed far distant from the slightly surly, grumpy person she usually was. It was a nice change. Jack wondered if she could be coerced into dancing more often. It seemed to take her mind off her worries, which he knew she was constantly mulling over.

As they danced, Jack caught sight of Kai, the young man who worked for Karen's father at the vineyard. He was watching Karen dance with a slightly entranced expression on his face, and Jack got the feeling that Karen really ought to be dancing with Kai instead of with him. He wondered if there was anything he could do to rectify the situation, but nothing came immediately to mind. However, when the music finished and the dance ended, Jack saw his opportunity. They had stopped dancing fairly close to Kai, so Jack caught his eye and beckoned him over.

"Take over for me, would you? I need a drink," he said, panting slightly as though to prove his point. Karen raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded demurely enough at Kai, and when a fresh round of music began, and she took his hand and swept him back into the center of the square. Jack watched them dance for a moment, grinning at the slightly dumbstruck but thoroughly delighted expression on Kai's face, and turned to search for Cliff. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say, but had a vague idea of inviting him to walk back to his farm together. He frowned when he couldn't find the other man.

"Have you seen Cliff?" he asked Ann, who was sipping a glass of water by one of the tables.

"He left almost as soon as the dancing began," she told him.

"Damn," Jack sighed. So much for his half-formed plan.

"Hey, um," Ann began, but Jack had already turned away, and didn't hear her. She sighed as she watched him head towards the stairs, and began scanning the table before her for something with more kick than the water she was drinking.

(x)X(x)X(x)

-To Be Continued-

**Author's Notes:** See Cliff. See Cliff angst. Angst, Cliff, angst.

Yes, I know, I'm horribly mean...both to the characters and to my readers. Again, deepest apologies for keeping everyone waiting so long for this chapter...three months is definitely far too long to go without updating, especially since I get a pretty regular amount of reviews asking for updates. Also, many heartfelt thanks to those of you who are enjoying the story and continue to remind me it exists.

Oddly, I had begun this chapter in an entirely different way a couple of months ago, and when I sat down to begin working on it again, I was bitten by a plot bunny. Well, several, actually. I realized that there would be many more opportunities for fluff later on if Jack were king for the year, so I put the chapter I had intended on the back burner and started this one. Tonight. I actually finished this in about three hours, more or less non-stop. Woo. Go me.

Interestingly enough, I think this fic is now going to be twice as long as I had originally intended - the work of many evil plot-bunnies, you see. Hopefully I'll be able to make it through until the third summer, the traditional "end game" point of Harvest Moon 64. Many things I have intended...now let's see if I can actually pull them off. Haa... Anyway, things are about to get very interesting (and angsty), so hopefully I'll be motivated to update more regularly. Hugs to you all, and I'll see you in chapter 8. :)


	8. The Autumn Horse Race

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon 64 and all related characters are property of Natsume. This story is written for entertainment purposes only, and not one red cent is being made off its existence. (As one would assume would be obvious, as it's posted on fanfiction dot net)

Coming Home

-Chapter 8: The Autumn Horse Race-

Jack woke up at the usual time one morning at the end of Autumn. It had been a while since the Harvest Festival, and it had also been the last time he had seen Cliff. He wasn't sure if he should be happy, relieved, or depressed. Currently he was feeling a combination of all three, but he was beginning to suspect depression was going to overpower relief and happiness before too much longer. Even if he could just see him for a little while...Maybe chat a little. Talk about stuff. Things between them had been a little awkward at the festival, and he wasn't sure why. They'd been on such good terms at the end of Cliff's enforced stay at his cabin...

Maybe that was it. Maybe he ought to instigate a situation in which Cliff's ankle would break again, so he'd be forced to shack up at Jack's for a while, and be unable to run off. Even as he thought it though, he knew he was being stupid. First and foremost, obviously, was that he didn't want Cliff to get hurt, and certainly not for his own selfish motivations. No, he would just have to get better at tracking the man down in the mountains. He went up there often enough, after all, it shouldn't be too difficult to work out a stratagem bent towards uncovering Cliff's hiding place.

With that plan in mind Jack shoved all thoughts of Cliff out of his head, as he had found himself doing with increasing regularity these past few weeks, and got out of bed. He dressed, ate, and stepped outside to begin work, only to be accosted by Doug, the owner of the Green Ranch and Ann and Grey's father.

"Good morning, Jack," the older man said pleasantly.

Surprised, Jack blinked, but quickly recovered. "'Morning, Doug. What can I do for you?"

"Well, as you probably already know," Doug's tone implied that he found this rather unlikely. "Tomorrow is the annual horse race. Are you going to enter?"

"Huh? Of course!"

"Oh, good!" Upon hearing Jack's intention to enter, Doug's demeanor lightened considerably.

"What do I need to do?"

"Nothing - I'll register for you. All you have to do is show up tomorrow. The first race begins at nine o'clock."

Arrangements were quickly made, and once Jack had given Kuro a handful of grains and a farewell pat on the nose, Doug left the farm shortly thereafter, horse in tow.

Jack fed and watered his other animals, and was just preparing to head into his rather large eggplant patch when he heard his name called from in front of his cabin. Looking up, he saw Karen waving at him, so he set down his watering bucket and walked over to find out what she wanted.

"How's the farm, Jack?" she asked pleasantly as he approached.

"Pretty good, thanks," he told her.

"I can't stay long - I just wanted to drop this off," she said, pulling a bottle of wine into view and handing it to him.

"Wow! Thanks a lot!" Jack said, grinning as he accepted the bottle.

"You're welcome," she replied. "Oh, and just so you know - it's best if you share it with...that special someone," she continued, winking slyly. Jack stared at her for a moment, uncomprehending, before blushing three shades of crimson and trying to stammer out an intelligible reply.

Pretending not to notice his blush or his embarrassment, Karen waved cheerily and spun on her heel, taking her leave. Once she was sure she was out of sight, she felt herself begin to grin. She had heard, through the Flower Bud Grapevine, that Cliff had spent a week in Jack's cabin earlier that season, laid up with a twisted ankle. If _that_ wasn't a recipe for _something_ to happen, she didn't know what was. Too bad she didn't know what exactly had taken place during that week - if anything at _all_ had. Cliff certainly wasn't the type to leap forward and announce his feelings to Jack, and Jack...well, she was pretty sure that Jack was beginning to have feelings for Cliff as well, if that blush a few moments ago along with hints she'd picked up at the Harvest Festival were any indication. Jack's dawning realization was probably the only really important thing that had happened that week, she mused.

_It's highly unlikely anything else happened at all,_ she thought with a frown.

Still, it was best not to get discouraged. She would continue to secretly support Cliff from the side-lines, and give Jack as many subtle nudges as it took for him to come out of the closet, as it were. She didn't understand how anyone could be so bloody clueless for such a long time.

Of course, Karen wasn't aware of the irony of her own personal situation. It might have amused her to know that Kai, the young man who worked for her father at the vineyard, often thought the same exact thing about _her_...

(x)

Jack hurried to finish his morning chores the day of the horse race, eager to get down to the square so as not to miss out on the festivities. He arrived at the square in plenty of time to place a bet on one of the horses racing in the first round. With his bets placed and his ticket stuffed safely into his pocket, he proceeded to wander around the square. He stopped to talk with Zach, who was running a refreshments stand.

"Hey there, Jack! Come to see the races?"

"You know it. What are you up to?"

"Ah, this here's my side job. Want something to eat?"

"Mmm, not right now. Maybe later."

"Alright. Oh, it sounds like they're starting the first race!" Zach pointed towards a pair of large doors on the south-east side of the square. "Better hurry!"

Jack did as he was told, and made his way through the gates into the stands along the race track. Of course, they weren't really _stands_ so much as layered earth cut out into three shelves. There was a set of stairs running down the middle, and each shelf was packed with villagers, along with several people Jack had never seen before.

The very first thing he noticed upon entering the stands that Cliff was standing near the entrance. He started to approach, but before he could make his feet move the buzzer sounded and the horses down on the track took off. Jack was surprised at the amount of noise the villagers made as they cheered for their favorites. They had always struck him as a very quiet, reserved lot. But then, it was undeniable that there was a very festive undercurrent in the air, and that the entire village was responding to it.

As the horses drew nearer and nearer to the finish line, it was quite apparent which ones weren't going to be winning, as they were lagging behind. The two in the lead, the bay and the black, were neck and neck until the very last second, when the black one put on an extra burst of speed and jumped forward just enough to cross the finish line first.

"And that's the end of the first race!" Announced a scratchy, slightly broken-up voice over the intercom. "The winners today are first place: Kurosaki! Second place: Ichigo! Please collect your medals at the counter!"

Jack looked down at his ticket and saw that, while he hadn't bet at all on Kurosaki, he _had_ put some money down on Ichigo - that meant he would be collecting a few medals, at least.

"How'd you do?" asked a voice. Jack looked up and blushed slightly. It was Cliff.

"I did alright. How 'bout you?" he asked. _Just act natural, just act natural!_ he ordered himself.

Cliff smiled. "I didn't come here to bet...I just came to watch Cliffguard race,"

"Oh, is that all?" Jack asked, feigning hurt disappointment.

"Well...yes..." Cliff responded, confused.

"I take it you won't be sticking around to watch me and Kuro then, huh?"

"What? You're racing today?"

"Yup,"

"Of course I'll stick around to watch!" Cliff hurried to assure him.

Jack grinned, immensely happy to finally be talking normally to Cliff after such a long separation. Almost immediately after, though, he developed a very nervous sensation in the pit of his stomach. _He's going to be watching me! I have to look good! Goddess, what if I make a fool of myself? What if I fall off? What'll he think then? That I'm a complete moron, that's what! What the bloody hell have I gotten myself into?_ Out loud, he said, "I, uh, have to go turn this in," and waved his ticket vaguely.

"Of course," Cliff responded. Jack turned and made his way back to the counter, while Cliff watched his retreating back with a bemused expression on his face. He had no idea what had prompted him to approach Jack. His initial plan had been to slip out of the stands and hole up somewhere in the square until the next race began. However, for whatever reason, both his feet and his mouth had seemed to disagree with this idea, and had carried him over to talk to Jack. It was almost as though there was some higher power guiding his actions. It hadn't been awful at all though, he reflected. Not too awkward for him, and over soon enough.

And now he knew he'd have the opportunity to stare at Jack as much as he wanted, once Jack's turn to race came around. The thought made him smile happily.

As he turned back towards the track, he caught sight of Karen, who was looking in his direction. When their eyes met, she smiled and waved, before turning back to talk to Ann.

Ann. The girl who was all love and fluff and save the whales one moment, then yelling at him for feeding a rabbit to Cain the next. He had no idea what to make of her, or, indeed, if anything really _could_ be made of her. She switched between friendly and cold so quickly, he sometimes wondered if she might be a bit schizophrenic. Passive-aggressive, at the very least, in any case. It never occurred to him to think that she might be attracted to him. He had never had a steady relationship with a girl in his entire life for one thing, and his attention was rather focused on someone else entirely for another.

A someone else who was avoiding him in the same embarrassed, "I don't know what I'm doing" manner as he was himself. Of course, Cliff was so preoccupied with his own half of the whole avoiding-the-issue game that he didn't even notice that Jack was playing as well.

(x)

Jack breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped once again into the square. There was a short line in front of the ticket counter, so he went to stand at the end and try to recover some of his composure. Talking to Cliff was like balancing on a tightrope: Dangerous and exhilarating all at once. He couldn't let himself get too excited, or else Cliff would definitely think he was weird. On the other hand, he couldn't be too distant either, or Cliff would think he was being unfriendly. Having a crush on someone, guy or not, was really stressful.

"Hello there, Jack." He was pulled out of his thoughts by Anna, the mayor's wife and co-coordinator of the horse race.

"Hullo, Anna," Jack responded, putting a smile on his face as he handed the woman his ticket. She studied it gravely for a moment, then returned it to him and turned to the large box of medals that was seated between herself and her husband. She quickly counted out one hundred, and placed them in a pouch-like bag before handing them to Jack with a smile.

"Did you want to make a bet on the next race while you're here?" she asked.

"Please,"

She pulled up the odds tally for the second race, which was to take place at noon, and Jack studied it for a few moments before making his choice. They finished the exchange with polite smiles and "thank yous", and Jack wandered off towards Zach's concessions stand.

It was really quite odd how they ran the betting pool in this town, Jack reflected. Instead of putting down cash and then getting cash in return if your bet played out in your favor, you put down money on medals, which were then returned in much the same manner as cash. The big difference was, you couldn't use the medals for anything other than to exchange for prizes. The prizes, in their turn, could only be obtained at either of the two annual horse races or the dog race in the winter.

Odd as it was, though, Jack realized that it was probably better this way - not only did it create one-way revenue towards the upkeep of the town, but it also seemed to discourage any potentially dangerous serious gambling.

"Ready for some food now, Jack?" asked Zach as he approached.

"You know it," Jack grinned. "How much for the baked corn?"

"Ah, that's 200 Gold," he was informed. Jack raised an eyebrow, which caused Zach to smile sheepishly. They both knew that Jack had made quite a bit less per ear this past summer during the corn growing season, and, subsequently, that the price Zach was asking now was rather outrageous. "For you, though, I can let it go for a measly 150," the big man amended.

"I'll have two, then," Jack said, reaching for his wallet.

The deal was struck, and soon Jack was walking back towards the track, an ear of corn in each hand. He quickly found the person he was looking for, and walked up to him.

"Hey Cliff," he said, brandishing one of the two corn cobs. "Hungry?"

Cliff's eyes widened. "Is it really okay...?" he asked uncertainly. Jack, in response, firmly pushed the corn into Cliff's hands.

"You don't eat enough," he told the astonished man. That said, he seated himself cross-legged on the ground and began to eat his own corn.

Cliff smiled and felt his heart begin to pound. _Why is he so nice to me?_ he wondered as he followed Jack's example and settled to the ground. _Every time he does something nice like this, I end up liking him more and more._ He took a bite of his corn and chewed eagerly.

Jack was somewhat relieved to discover that he didn't have to attempt to make any sort of conversation while they were eating. _I'll have to try this tactic more often,_ he thought to himself. _Stick some food in his face, and in mine, and then I can just watch him._ And this was a wonderful opportunity, he had to say. Cliff ate ravenously, as though he were starving. Jack ate more reservedly, savoring each bite, and sneaking glances at Cliff from time to time.

"Thanks for this," Cliff said, waving the now-empty cob in Jack's direction a few minutes later.

"You're welcome," Jack responded warmly.

"How's the farm?" Cliff asked, after a moment of silence had passed between them.

"Same as always. I'm nearly to the point where I never want to look at another eggplant again," Jack told him, grimacing. Cliff laughed.

"And how's life in the mountain? I haven't seen you for a while..." Jack said, glancing at Cliff once before returning his gaze to the milling crowd below them.

"Nothing special," Cliff responded. "I hunt, I wash, I cook, I eat, I sleep. Rinse and repeat,"

"How's the hunting up there, anyway?" Jack asked. He himself never saw more than the occasional rabbit or fox, and he was curious.

"Pretty good. My grandfather made his living by hunting and trapping on the mountain, you know," Cliff said, warming up to his subject. "I expect the hunting will be harder as Winter comes closer, but there's always fish in the ocean, if nothing else."

"Huh," Jack muttered thoughtfully. "You'll have to come eat at my place sometimes," he said. He had scarcely thought of the idea before he had said it, and immediately felt the beginnings of a flush raise to his cheeks.

"Really...?" Cliff was at once both excited and uncertain. It would really be nice to share a meal or two with Jack, but wouldn't that just be setting him up for later disappointment? No. He'd told himself once that he could be happy just to see Jack, to talk with him and to spend time with him, as friends. There was no reason to let his feelings for the man interfere with their friendship, which was just as important as Cliff's private, unattainable wishes.

"Yes, really." Jack grinned. "I've nearly got enough gold and lumber saved up to add a kitchen on to my cabin, so I'm going to be able to prepare proper food, hopefully before too much longer."

"Awesome."

All awkwardness had vanished between the pair, and the chatted amiably for the next few hours until it was time for the second race. Cliffguard from the Green Ranch was racing, so both men stood and added their voices to the enthusiastic cheering of the crowd.

Cliffguard, ridden by a young man that Jack didn't know, won easily. Jack wondered who the rider was, and why it wasn't Ann or Grey racing the fine stallion to victory.

"I guess you're racing next," Cliff said as the cheering died away into a general murmur of background chatter.

"Guess so." All of a sudden, Jack's stomach, which had finally calmed down once he'd become comfortable talking with Cliff, began to twist itself into knots. He'd never raced Kuro before. Sure, he galloped the gelding around his farm on a regular basis, but that was different. Kuro wasn't used to other horses - how would he react in this situation? Would he be okay? Would _Jack_ be okay? _He_ wasn't used to other horses either, come to that. What if Kuro spooked? What if he refused to move?

"Are you alright? You've gone kind of pale," Cliff said, concerned

Jack swallowed and smiled reassuringly at Cliff. "I'm just a little nervous, all of a sudden," he told the other man. "I think I'm going to go mingle a bit, if that's okay..."

"Go for it," Cliff said, thinking that talking to the other villagers and collecting their wishes of good luck might calm Jack down. Indeed, it looked to Cliff as though Jack were having a little difficulty breathing. Cliff watched Jack as he stood, dusted off the seat of his overalls and took off into the crowd below them, waving absently to Cliff as he did so.

While the well wishes of his friends and acquaintances didn't exactly deplete Jack's nervousness, they did help to bolster his confidence.

"Are you racing next, Aniki? I'll cheer for you!"

"You're racing? Good luck!"

"You'd better win, I'm putting money down on you!"

Well, that last one hadn't been so confidence boosting, but it was nice to know he had the support nonetheless.

He wandered over to where Karen and Ann were chatting, and Ann leapt up at his approach.

"Calm down!" she ordered, before he could say anything. Jack privately thought that she seemed to be more in need of the advice than he. She was fidgeting, and her face was flushed. "Breathe!" Jack moved to follow her advice, and she quickly informed him he was doing it wrong. Karen grinned at him behind Ann's back as she showed him how to do a breathing exercise to calm his nerves, and as they went through it together, Jack was more than a little relieved to see that it appeared to have calmed Ann down, at least.

When the call went out for the participants of the last race to begin gathering at the starting line, Jack jumped and looked around like a trapped animal. Ann slapped him on the back in a comradely fashion and grinned, albeit a bit nervously. "Down there," she said, pointing to where Jack was to go.

"You'll do fine," Karen said from behind Ann. Jack glanced at her and smiled weakly. She smirked at him, raising an eyebrow as she did so. He couldn't help but grin at that, and suddenly felt a little better about the whole situation. Nodding his thanks, he turned and trekked down to the starting line.

He quickly located Doug, who was waiting with Kuro. The horse was snorting and tossing his head with equine nerves.

"You're to go to gate 3," Doug told him, as he turned Jack about so that he could safety-pin a paper number to Jack's back.

"Got it," he said. Doug nodded gravely, and indicated that Jack should mount up.

"Hey, Kuro," Jack said, placing a hand on the horse's arching neck. Kuro whinnied and seemed to settle down a bit at the sound of Jack's voice. He calmed even more as Jack pulled himself into the saddle, which gave Jack no end of relief. At least one of them was calm! Reassured by the gelding's almost professional behavior, he felt his own nerves begin to settle, though the adrenaline was now rushing through his system.

"Racers! Take your place at the gates!" came the announcement from overhead. Doug nodded and handed a riding crop and Kuro's reins up to Jack, who arranged them loosely but securely into his hands while he nudged Kuro forward with his knees. The horse obediently walked into the narrow gate without so much as a pause, which caused Jack to grin proudly. He patted Kuro's neck affectionately as the pair waited impatiently for the race to begin.

Jack was only partially aware of the countdown as his focus narrowed to the track ahead of him and the horse beneath him. He reached behind him with the crop in preparation for the start-off.

"Three!" he was aware that the crowd in the stands above had become almost unnaturally silent, listening just as intently to the announcer as the racers were.

"Two!" Jack's focus narrowed to the track in front of him, bordered by Kuro's ears. The horse was both tense and steady beneath him, ready to fly off at a moment's notice. "ONE!" The buzzer sounded, the gates opened, and Kuro exploded onto the track. Jack got the distinct impression that he really hadn't needed to swat Kuro with the crop at all - the horse was just as eager as he was to run.

And run he did. Jack wondered vaguely if he'd ever galloped quite as fast on Kuro before, or if it was just the result of the adrenalin flooding his system. He quickly decided it didn't matter, and instead focused his mind and body on assisting his horse in any way he could. He crouched in his stirrups instead of sitting in the saddle, leaning forward over Kuro's neck in an attempt to distribute his weight as evenly as possible. The pounding of the horse's hooves on the ground, the smell of sweat, both his and Kuro's, the at once distant and immediate roar of the crowd in the stands, and the sight of the track as seen between Kuro's ears filled his entire being, flooding his senses and nearly overwhelming him. He went easy on the crop - it was apparent to him that Kuro didn't need much encouragement in that direction. Eyes darting from side to side, he assessed the positions of the other racers. No one to worry about on the right that he could see, but there was a racer to his left who was quickly drawing even with Kuro.

"C'mon, boy," he muttered, tapping Kuro's rear in a very cursory manner with the crop. Kuro's ears twitched at the sound of Jack's voice, and Jack could _feel_ the horse gathering himself for more speed. Another glance to the left showed that the rider Jack had noticed before was now flat-even with him and Kuro. Not for long, though, because Kuro somehow found that he was not actually going all-out, and ran even faster yet.

Shifting his gaze forward once more, Jack could just make out the bright red of the finish line in the distance. His breath caught in his throat and he glanced back at his competition. The other horse had also found some previously untapped reserve of speed, because it was once more drawing even with Kuro.

"Steady, Kuro, we're almost done!" Jack encouraged, glancing once more at the finish line, which was becoming nearer very quickly. Kuro seemed to understand, because though Jack could sense that the horse was tiring, he did not actually slow down.

Neither, he saw with a glance at his rival, did the other horse.

Jack's narrow focus became even narrower. The cheers and cries of the crowd faded to a dull background roar, and all he could hear was the pounding of Kuro's hooves on the hard-packed earth. He fixed his gaze firmly on the finish line, focusing his whole being on the white stripe along the ground, the cameras that he knew were positioned to either side, and the flags hanging down from a bar high above.

Jack and his competition were neck and neck at this point, neither backing down to give way for the other, but neither quite managing to push forward. Jack could see the whites of the other horse's eyes, it was so close. Kuro remained rock steady between his legs, as tense as could be with the effort he was exerting. For a fleeting moment, Jack thought of something else he wished was between his legs, and was so startled by this completely out-of-the-blue thought that his fist clenched involuntarily around the crop. His arm spasmed and he hit Kuro much harder than he'd ever intended, and this caused the visibly flagging gelding to leap forward with renewed speed to cross the finish-line a good second before the other horse.

All at once, the noise of the crowd rushed back full-force as he settled back into the saddle and guided Kuro into a very controlled trot to cool the gasping horse down. He looked up into the stands at all the cheering, giddy people, a lot of whom were friends and acquaintances screaming his name. He caught a very brief glimpse of Cliff, who was smiling warmly and unguardedly, the way he had back at the fireworks show at the beginning of Summer, before he was distracted by Doug and Grey, as well as a multitude of other people who were running the races or keeping track of the horses and riders.

Doug had him dismount and lead Kuro around at a walk to continue cooling the horse down. The older man didn't say anything, but there was a definite smug satisfaction about his expression as he watched Jack tend to his horse. Grey, as usual, stared expressionlessly, though slightly less disapprovingly than he had previously.

After about five minutes of walking, Kuro was allowed to dip his nose briefly into a bucket of water, before the mayor strolled up to Jack and began various victory procedures. Jack had to have his picture taken, Kuro had to have his picture taken, the mayor had to have _his_ picture taken...It all seemed a bit anti-climactic once the adrenaline had completely worn off, and Jack wished for nothing more than to get Kuro home to his stable.

When the pictures had been taken and the Mayor satisfied with the proceedings, Jack was nearly bowled over by Ann, who had appeared, apparently from no where, to glomp him violently in congratulations.

"Good job! I knew you had it in you! And Kuro did such a good job too!" As suddenly as she had attached herself to his person, she was just as suddenly gone, moved on to fawn over the horse. Kuro looked a little bemused at the unaccustomed attention, but did not discourage it as Ann stroked his neck (which had been given a cursory rub-down for the photographs).

"Do you want to have a drink down at the bar?" Ann asked abruptly, causing Jack to blink a bit in surprise.

"Um, actually..." the memory of the brief glimpse of Cliff he'd gotten after the race had finished floated to the surface of his mind. "I'm kind of tired, so..."

"Oh, I see. No problem, we can do it some other time," Ann said, understanding completely.

"Yes, lets," Jack agreed vaguely. He had turned towards the stands, and was scanning the now much-calmer crowd for one face in particular.

He found Cliff quickly, and this time caught his eye. Cliff grinned as their eyes met and flashed a victory sign with one hand. Jack grinned and returned the gesture.

"Hey, you'll take care of Kuro for me tonight, right?" he asked, turning back to Ann. She nodded, a look of surprise on her face. "Thank you so much. I owe you!" So saying, he dashed off.

Ann watched with a bemused sort of expression on her face, trying to hide the disappointment she felt bubbling up in her chest. Fighting it off with a vigorous shake of her head, she turned back to Kuro and started talking softly to him.

"C'mere, boy, let's rub you down properly and give you a nice grooming..." Kuro obediently followed her back to the stables.

(x)

Cliff was walking briskly through the strangely deserted village on his way back to the mountain when someone shouted his name.

"Hey, Cliff!" The young man so named turned at the sound of the call, and his heart leapt to his throat. It was Jack, and he was running towards him, panting. He stopped and waited for him to catch up. "Hey!" Jack repeated as he drew near. When he was fully even with Cliff, he stopped and put his hands on his knees in order to catch his breath. Cliff stared at him in amazement. Had he run all the way from the bottom of the track to catch up with _him?_

"I wanted...to know," Jack said, between gasps. "If you'd be...interested in sharing...some wine with me."

"Uhm..." _Say 'Yes!', you fool!_ he told himself.

"To...uh...celebrate?" Jack felt awkward all of a sudden, proposing a celebratory toast to his own victory. He smacked himself mentally. _Smooth going, moron. That's nice and arrogant, don't you think? _

"I'd like that," Cliff managed to say, his own brief inner debate settled. "Oh yes! Congratulations!" he added, mentally kicking himself for not thinking of that first. _And it really should've been _you_ who proposed the celebratory drinks, not Jack!_ he chided himself.

"Thank you!" Jack straightened, having finally caught his breath. "Let's go, then!" he said, continuing on the path Cliff had begun and walking towards the crossroads.

"Uh, Jack?" Cliff said, confused.

"Yeah?" Jack turned to look at the other man, who was pointing behind him with his thumb.

"The bar's that way,"

"I know. But I've got some wine at my place."

Cliff was absolutely positive his heart skipped a beat at _that_ particular declaration.

"Oh," he said intelligently.

Jack grinned. "Coming?"

"Of course!"

(x)

"To Kuro!" Jack proclaimed, holding his glass aloft.

"To Kuro!" Cliff agreed, raising his own glass. "And to Jack!"

Jack blushed slightly and grinned in an embarrassed manner. "Yeah...him too," he said.

Cliff grinned and clinked his glass against Jack's. Or more accurately, his tea cup. Drinking wine from jars, as the villagers were sometimes wont to doing, was odd enough, but this really took the cake. Jack didn't have any wine glasses, though, not having much occasion to drink wine. However, as the farmer _did_ drink a healthy amount of tea, it was perfectly natural for him to own tea cups.

The two men sat at perfect ease on stools at Jack's tiny square table, drinking and chatting amiably late into the evening. It was nearly midnight when Cliff left to return to the mountain. Jack had offered to let him bed down in his cabin, and had even said he could have the floor if the bed made him so uncomfortable, but Cliff politely refused, saying that he probably ought to look after Cain.

He really wanted nothing more than to turn right back around and re-enter Jack's cabin, but was too scared. Sighing, he stared up at the sliver of moon that was still visible in the sky and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets as he walked. He had just had a fantastic day. As a result, however, he was convinced that Jack was more wonderful than ever, and he was still of two minds about that. On the whole, he felt it was probably a bad thing...for him, at least.

He sighed again as he entered the dark cave and settled down to sleep.

Jack, meanwhile, was staring listlessly out the front window of his cabin, a veritable kaleidoscope of thoughts whirling through his mind. Cliff was so nice, so gentle, so...so _Cliff!_ Every time he encountered the man, he liked him that much more. He wondered, as he stared out into the night, whether it would ever come to anything, or if he'd be mooning about like this forever.

-To Be Continued-

(x)X(x)X(x)

Author's Notes: Firstly, I would like to say to anyone who might be wondering that yes, I am aware that it is highly unusual for stallion horses to race. I do have reasons for supposing that Cliffguard is a stallion (as opposed to a gelding), and these are they: Firstly, Cliffguard is the Green Ranch's prize horse - and from what I can tell about prize horses, they are the animals that make their owners money by producing offspring. So it only makes sense (to me, at least), that Cliffguard is a stallion. Secondly, in regards to the racing thing: While it is uncommon for stallions to race, it is also not unheard of. From what I understand, young stallions who have yet to make a name for themselves have to get famous _somehow_, and racing is as good a way as any. I'm thinking that Cliffguard, while being the Green Ranch's prize stallion, is also probably not quite famous or well-known enough to attract folks who will pay to have him cover their mares, and so has to suffer the indignities of the local horse races.

And if you weren't wondering about my decision to make Cliffguard a stallion, then...well, I guess you learned something new about horses, huh/grins/

And so we dive yet further into the complex, angsty world of Cliff and Jack. Though I don't think this was a lot of angst at all...in fact, I hesitate to even call it angst. But there 'tis. I'm quite happy with this chapter, so that's how it's going to be. Feedback, comments, and critiques are all welcome. See you in chapter nine:) 


	9. Gentle Music

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon 64 and all related characters are property of Natsume. This story is written for entertainment purposes only, and not one red cent is being made off its existence. (As one would assume would be obvious, as it's posted on fanfiction dot net)

Coming Home

-Chapter 9: Gentle Music-

The amount of time between the autumn horse race and the beginning of winter seemed like hardly anything at all. Jack awoke on the first day of the new season to discover a thick coating of snow on the ground. He stared in astonishment for several minutes, wondering if the weather in Flower Bud Village was this predictable every year, or if it was just a coincidence that the first snowfall and the first day of winter had happened at the same time.

Well...whatever. Snow or no snow, Jack had animals to take care of, so he shook himself from his reverie and stepped outside to begin his morning chores. He had acquired a third sheep by this time, and also a second cow, whose names were Subaru and Nashiko, respectively. Feeding, brushing, and, in Umeko's case, milking, did not take a very long time at all. Jack was able to give plenty of attention to each of his animals in just under an hour.

Feeding the chickens was much the same - he had six by this time, and his chicken coop was full. Gathering eggs and spreading grain for the birds to eat took far less time than feeding, grooming, and milking the other livestock, and Jack found himself stepping out into the weak wintry sunlight at eight-thirty in the morning with nothing to do. No crops would grow in the winter, unless he had a greenhouse. While he sorely would have liked to have one built, the steep price and his greater desire for a kitchen prevented him from acquiring one at this point in time.

None of the shops in town would be open yet, and besides, it was a little too early in the morning for a bit of friendly visiting. Of course, he could always head up into the mountain to fish a bit, and maybe look for Cliff...Hmm. While that last thought did have a certain appeal, Jack brushed it aside nervously. It probably would be best to distance himself a little from Cliff...no matter how much he enjoyed the other man's company, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself from becoming more and more infatuated as time wore on.

_Absence only makes the heart grow fonder._

Where the hell had _that_ stray thought come from? Jack leaned against the wood pile stacked against the east wall of the chicken coop and groaned.

As far as he could see, he had only two choices. He could either moon about away from Cliff and angst, which would suck, or he could moon about around Cliff and angst, which would also suck. But perhaps he wouldn't feel so bad if Cliff was there...? Gah! Who could tell?

In an attempt to distract himself from his increasingly uncomfortable thoughts, Jack squinted his eyes tightly shut for a moment, then opened them and looked around the farm.

He had, by this time, cleared the field of all but a few of the largest of rocks and stumps, which were mostly at the eastern end of the property, as it was the furthest from the shipping bin and the animal pens.

_Distraction!_ he thought triumphantly, and jogged back to his cabin to pick up his hammer and axe.

It felt good to work up a sweat in the bitingly crisp winter air. Unfortunately, Jack ran out of rocks to smash and stumps to break up quite a bit sooner than he was ready to. Now his entire field was well and truly bare. The only irregularity that could be discerned now was where the snow had settled over grass, as opposed to bare earth.

Determined not to think depressing thoughts, Jack decided to run up to the bakery for some tea and company. He always enjoyed chatting with Jeff, the thirty-something proprietor of the bakery. The man was given to nostalgic fits at times, but Jack didn't mind listening to him prattle on about "the good old days." In fact, he rather enjoyed hearing about the things Jeff had done as a young man.

After replacing his tools carefully in the tool box inside his cabin, Jack made his way to the bakery. He greeted Ellen, Elli's grandmother, with a smile and a nod before entering.

"Oh, hi Jack!" came a cheerful voice. Blinking, Jack saw that it belonged to neither Jeff nor Elli, but to Popuri. She was seated at the single table in the room, holding a cup of steaming tea in her hands.

"Hi, Popuri," Jack responded, nodding at her as he made his way to the counter.

"The usual?" Jeff asked, after the two men had exchanged greetings.

"Please," Jack said.

"I'll be just a few moments, then," he was told, and Jeff turned and busied himself with the tea kettle and stove which was kept behind the counter.

"Why don't you join me, Jack?" Popuri invited. Jack smiled and nodded, seating himself at the table across from her.

"How've you been?" He asked, once he was settled.

"Fair," she responded. "I don't like the winter, you know...Everything seems so...lifeless." She seemed a little downcast as she spoke.

Jack nodded noncommittally, though he was privately thinking that it was too bad that Popuri disliked three of the four seasons so intensely - She hated summer because it was far too hot, disliked autumn because all the green and flowers were gone, and now he learned that she wasn't even fond of winter. "At least when Winter comes, you know Spring is just around the corner," he said, trying to cheer her up.

"That's very true!" she replied, a smile coming to her face. Jack smiled back, pleased to have succeeded in lifting her spirits.

"So what are you up to these days?" she asked, taking a sip of her tea.

"Not a whole lot," he told her, glancing at Jeff to see how his own tea was coming along. The water had finished boiling and now Jeff was straining the leaves. He enjoyed watching Jeff prepare tea - When he made it for himself at home, he just used a tea kettle and a tea bag. Jeff, however, was something of a tea purist, and went about preparing it in a very proper manner.

"Just have my animals to take care of, now that there's snow on the ground," he continued.

"Mmm, yes. You know, you can grow strawberries in the Winter if you have a greenhouse," Popuri said.

"Can you, now?" Jack asked, intrigued. He hadn't known that before.

"Any plans for a greenhouse in your future?" she asked, curious.

"In the distant future, yes," Jack grimaced. "I need a kitchen first."

"Do you cook?"

"A little. I'd like to be able to properly prepare my own meals from time to time, at least," _and share them with a certain someone..._

At this point, Jeff arrived with Jack's tea, which he gratefully accepted. He closed his hands carefully around the hot cup, warming his fingers with the heat of the beverage inside. He spent the next half-hour chatting amiably with Popuri, and eventually bought each of them a slice of Elli's famous cake when their conversation began to show signs of outlasting their tea.

(x)

Popuri returned home once Jack had left for his farm, and sighed.

"Is something wrong?" Lillia asked from across the room.

"Oh, no," she lied. "You know how I am in the winter,"

Her mother smiled indulgently. "This is true,"

Popuri retreated to her room and flopped down on her bed, sighing again.

(x)

In a fit of boredom one afternoon, Jack meandered about his farm, poking into various nooks and crannies to see if he could turn up anything interesting. He didn't expect to, but he wouldn't know unless he tried, and anyway, he was tired of chopping wood in the mountains, as he had been for the past few days.

Moving from the woodpile beside the chicken coop to the lone tree in the north-eastern corner of his farm, Jack sighed. He was so _bored!_ He'd half-heartedly looked for Cliff on a few occasions, but had not met with any success. Tea at Jeff's was all well and good, but there was only so long he could sit still once he had drunk it. If only something interesting would happen between now and when the mine opened...

Blinking, Jack noticed a large hollow on the far side of the tree that he did not recall seeing before. No surprise, really, as it was facing the wrong direction for him to see it from the angle he usually approached it at. He peered inside, not expecting to find anything, but was surprised when he made out a shape in the shadows. He carefully extracted the object and examined it.

It was a bit of yellowed paper, on which a set of instructions had been written with grave care by a young child:

_Walk down from dog house until you see tree on right. Dig._

_-Jack, 5 years old_

Jack blinked in astonishment. He racked his brains, but could not remember either writing this or what could possibly be buried at the specified location.

"Treasure hunt!" he exclaimed out loud, glad he'd finally found _something_ to do. He didn't know if it would be disappointing or not, but he was grateful for the distraction nonetheless. Taking up his hoe, he quickly found the specified location and began digging.

It was slow going, as the earth was frozen quite hard, but Jack was determined to find out what he had buried. He had worked up quite a sweat by the time the ground at the bottom of his hole crumbled a bit. Not wanting to accidentally break whatever it was with his hoe, he bent over to brush away the earth to see if his buried treasure was close to being unearthed. His caution was well founded, for after probing and digging with his fingers for a few moments, he uncovered a decomposing shoe box, stuffed with slightly less decomposed newspaper. Cradled in the newspaper was a small music box, about the size of both of his fists held together.

He let out a surprised laugh. Where had he gotten this? Turning the music box over in his hands, he carefully examined it. He was about to conclude that it had somehow survived over fifteen years buried underground intact, until he carefully wound it and set it to play. The pretty wood of the box had survived, but the mechanism within had not been so lucky. It still played, but the music was off-key and out of rhythm.

Still though, this was a wonderful discovery - a great relief of tedium and boredom, to be sure. And perhaps Rick or Saibara could fix the broken mechanism and get it to play properly again.

Smiling, Jack tucked the box carefully into his knapsack and headed off to town to see if he could talk to Rick.

(X)

Rick was, miraculously, puttering about in his shop, which was, just as miraculously, open. Jack had lost track of the number of times throughout the year he'd tried to stop in to purchase something, or even just to say hi, and find the door locked and the inventor nowhere to be found.

"Hi, Jack!" Rick said when he looked up to see who had stepped into his shop.

"Hey, Rick, fancy seeing you here," Jack responded, teasing. Rick grimaced.

"Sorry my shop's closed so often..." he apologized.

Jack grinned and waved one hand vaguely. "No worries," he said. "You're usually around when I need something important, so it's no big deal."

Rick grinned, rubbing the back of his neck in an embarrassed fashion. "I take it to mean that you need something...?" The two men both looked around the sparsely populated interior of Rick's shop. Jack had bought most of the items that had come through the small store at one point or another, and there was nothing Rick was selling right now that he didn't already own.

"Actually, yes," he said in response to Rick's question, swinging his knapsack off his shoulder so that he could extract the music box, which he then offered to Rick.

"What have we here?" Rick half muttered to himself when Jack handed it over. "Hmmm..." He opened the lid, starting the mechanism and setting the 'music' to playing. "Oh, this is no big deal," the red-head told him. He opened a drawer behind the counter and removed a small screwdriver and a few other odds and ends. He then proceeded to carefully crack the case open and prod inside, muttering all the while.

"Bit of oil here...tighten a screw or two there..." were the sort of things Jack caught. He watched, amused, as Rick prodded the little music box back to life.

"There we are! No problem!" the inventor proclaimed, carefully refitting the casings back together. He wound the key on the bottom of the box and opened the lid. The two men listened as a sweet, romantic sort of tune emerged from the freshly resuscitated music box.

"Heeey...you know, this is a love song you give to a girl," Rick said, glancing slyly up at Jack from where he was leaning on the counter. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?"

"Indeed."

Jack snorted. "I see...well, how much do I owe you?"

"Ah, no worries," Rick said. He closed the lid carefully and slid the box across the counter towards Jack, who picked it up and carefully replaced it in his bag.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked, reaching for his wallet.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Rick laughed. "Now if you've nothing else to say, scram! I'm a busy man!" he made shoo'ing motions with his hands, grinning while he did so to prevent Jack from taking offense. Jack did as he was told, grinning.

"Thank you very much," he said as he opened the front door.

"Any time, friend," came the reply.

Smiling, Jack stepped into the street and began to make his way back to his farm.

(x)

A few days later, the winter mine was opened to the public, so Jack packed a lunch and his hoe up to the mountain to have a go at mining. By the time he ducked into the cave entrance, it was snowing lightly, and the chilly air was causing his nose to run.

"Hey Jack, up for a little mining today?" asked the carpenter's apprentice stationed at the door. Jack had never had the opportunity to learn the man's name...not that he thought it would help much, because he was identical in looks to the two other apprentices who studied under the old carpenter.

"That's why I'm here," Jack responded, smiling.

"Right. In you go, then." And without further ado, Jack was ushered down a short staircase and into the mine.

The mine was a fairly large, rectangular cavern that was lit by lanterns hanging from the ceiling. After pausing a moment to take in his surroundings, Jack set to work with his hoe.

After a few hours of nearly non-stop digging, Jack had uncovered several chunks of iron ore, a valuable moonstone, and a rather nasty headache. Attributing that last to hunger, Jack removed his lunch from his bag and paused for about fifteen minutes to eat it. Feeling slightly better with his stomach full, he renewed his efforts and uncovered a staircase leading down to the next level of the mine. Here the precious moonstone was slightly more abundant than above, though there was still plenty of iron ore as well. The headache he'd acquired continued to plague him the longer he worked, so that by the time five o' clock rolled around and the mine closed for the evening, Jack was feeling decidedly unwell.

"Come back tomorrow, hey?" the carpenter's apprentice at the door called after him as he nearly staggered out of the cave and into the snowy twilight.

_Good food...Hot shower...Warm bed..._ were the thoughts that made their way through Jack's mind as he made his way home. Sadly, he only had one out of those three options available to him. Something that hadn't really bothered him before now, but there it was. _Stupid...why're you taking so long to get a kitchen? And you really ought to get a bathroom too...stupid..._ he berated himself as he made his way down the path to the crossroads. He was so tied up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Karen until he'd run into her.

"Oi, watch where you're going!" she exclaimed with some heat, glaring at him.

"I'm sorry," he apologized meekly.

"Oh, never mind...Hey," Karen's irritated expression became one of puzzled concern. "Are you alright? You don't look so hot..."

"'M fine...I'm just tired," he told her.

"Oh...Okay," Karen didn't seem convinced, and she watched him shrewdly as he waved good-bye and made his way past her down the road onto his farm. "Working so hard in weather like this, I'll be surprised if he _doesn't_ catch a cold," she muttered to herself as he disappeared from view.

Shaking her head, Karen flicked a stray bit of hair back over her shoulder and continued on her own way home, making a mental note to check in on Jack tomorrow morning.

(x)

Cliff emerged from the carpenter's cabin to greet the rays of the morning sun. It had snowed pretty hard last night, so the carpenters had insisted he bunk down with them instead of staying in that freezing cave as he usually did when the weather turned foul. He was prepared to go fishing down at the beach - the fish there tended to be bigger (and therefore more filling) than the ones in the river, so he stepped lively across the small footbridge and out onto the path.

The foraging had, as he'd predicted, become more or less non-existent as the first snows settled on the ground. It looked as though he was going to be subsisting on fish stews for the most part this winter...not that he minded, too much. He had a small store of herbs and mushrooms that he'd gathered in the fall, so with those to season his stew, he wouldn't be too bad off at all.

Cliff slowed as he passed Jack's farm on his way to the beach. There was no sign of the young farmer, though judging from the distinct lack of crops growing in the snowed-under field, that probably shouldn't come as too big a surprise. _Probably taking care of his animals or holed up in his cabin,_ Cliff thought. _Maybe I'll stop by on my way back and share some of my catch._

He hurried on, both nervous and cheered by the thought. Talking to Jack had become much easier after the horse race, but he still didn't see much of the other man - his fault entirely, of course.

_Still avoiding the issue..._ he told himself. He was now tromping across the wet sand at the high tide mark towards the pier where he usually sat and fished. He had come to the decision that it was probably best if he kept his encounters with Jack to a minimum. As the object of Cliff's affections became easier to talk to, he knew that it would also become much easier to blurt out something he would live to regret.

_Ah, well,_ he thought as he gained the pier and prepared to make his first cast of the morning.

The fish were as eager to rise to the bait the morning after a heavy snow fall as they were after a heavy rain. Cliff's basket was full of large, wriggling fish before the sun had risen much past nine o' clock, and he smiled happily as he made his way back up to the mountain to clean and cook them.

He ran into Karen in front of Jack's farm.

"Oh! Cliff!" she seemed surprised to see him.

"Hi, Karen," he said cheerfully. "What's that you've got there?" he asked, catching sight of a woven basket much like his own, covered in a grape-colored towel.

"Food for the idiot who worked too long in the snow yesterday," she replied with a small smile. Then she blinked, and stared speculatively at Cliff. "Actually, though, I'm really rather busy...you wouldn't happen to have any free time right now, would you?" she asked, pointedly ignoring the over-full basket of fish he carried.

"Well, er..."

"Oh, good!" she exclaimed. "Here, let me take this for you, I'll put it in the freezer for you - come by and pick it up whenever, my mother's always home." As she spoke, she pulled Cliff's basket out of his unresisting hands and replaced it with hers. "Thanks so much!"

Without even giving Cliff enough time for a token protest, she smiled prettily at him, whirled, and was stalking off back up the hill to the vineyard, where she was soon lost from sight. Cliff stared after her for several moments, mouth agape.

_What...what just happened?_ he thought, shifting his new burden in his arms. He could feel the heat of the food radiating from the wicker-weave, and his own stomach growled. _Hope there's enough for two..._ he thought dumbly as he turned and stepped onto Jack's property in a daze.

His polite knock on the front door elicited a groaned "Come in," from the occupant, and Cliff cautiously entered. The first thing he saw upon stepping over the threshold was Jack, stripped to his boxers, laying spread-eagle on his back in bed with the covers kicked off and a pillow over his head. Cliff's stomach immediately tied itself into knots at the sight, and his heart began to pound. He barely registered Jiro as the dog made a mad dash between his legs and out into the yard.

"Uh...Hey, Jack, how're you feeling?" Cliff asked, moving further into the room.

"Cliff?" The pillow shifted slightly and one dull, brown eye emerged to regard the visitor.

"I, uh, heard you were sick," he said, truthfully enough. "I've got food..."

"My hero," Jack murmured, smiling a little before he replaced the pillow firmly over his face.

Cliff's stomach tied itself into even tighter knots, and he was glad Jack had covered his face once more and couldn't see him blush. He set the basket down on the table in the middle of the room and pulled off the towel, to see what Karen had packed.

Inside was a large ceramic container full of hot tomato soup, a slightly smaller container full of white rice, and four grilled cheese sandwiches tied neatly in another grape-colored towel.

"Do you have any bowls?" Cliff asked, looking over his shoulder at Jack's prone form.

"Next to the tool box," Jack said, pointing vaguely to the corner. Cliff quickly grabbed two and filled each with some of the hot soup. He made other necessary preparations with the rice and so forth, and then moved one of the two stools to Jack's bedside.

"Ready for some food?" he asked, trying not to stare at Jack's naked torso and failing miserably. Nearly a whole year's worth of farm-work had done some very nice things to Jack's former city-dweller physique. Clearly defined pectoral muscles, broad shoulders, and lean, muscular arms were what dominated Cliff's attention, though the area around Jack's waist wasn't very far behind in the running. Jack's boxers, however, were strictly off-limits...or so he told himself.

_I'm really bad at listening when I tell myself "no",_ Cliff thought as his eyes strayed to the plaid cotton construction that was the only barrier between Jack's interesting bits and the rest of the world.

"Mmmm...food..." Jack groaned, providing a welcome distraction to Cliff. He turned around and busied himself with moving Jack's portion over to the bedside table while Jack sat up and pulled a sheet and a blanket over his legs.

Cliff quickly had Jack situated with a bowl of soup and a napkin containing two of the sandwiches in his lap. Cliff himself was seated on the stool next to Jack's bed, enjoying his own soup.

"You're eating too, huh?" Jack teased between bites.

"Free food's free food. There's enough for two, and if Karen doesn't like it, too bad!" Cliff said defiantly.

"Karen?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Cliff nodded. "I ran into her on my way back to the mountain and she shoved her basket in my hands and told me to feed you."

"Did she now?" Jack was torn between feeling put out that Cliff hadn't thought to visit on his own and feeling grateful to Karen for sending Cliff as her proxy. Perhaps he'd thank her for it, later...

_"Oh, by the way Karen, thanks for sending Cliff in to nurse me back to health."_

_"What, are you saying you'd rather have him than me? Am I not good enough for you, or something?"_

...On second thought, maybe he'd not say anything after all. He could too easily imagine Karen becoming offended if he thanked her for something like...well, like _this_.

As he ate, Jack snuck several glances at Cliff. When he'd woken up this morning with his head feeling two times bigger than normal with congestion and a migraine, and burning up with a fever besides, he'd felt like crawling into a hole and dying to relieve his misery. But now that Cliff was here, he felt slightly less miserable, and certainly not like dying. The food was good too, and that helped a great deal.

"How are you feeling?" Cliff asked as he set his empty bowl aside. Jack regarded his own bowl, still at least half-full.

"I've been better," he said wryly.

"I see. Have you been worse?"

Jack grimaced. "This morning," he admitted.

"Didn't you eat any breakfast?"

"And get out of bed? I'm not even sure I could find the floor at this point," Jack said.

"You're doing tolerably well eating your food," Cliff pointed out jokingly. Jack mock-scowled at him.

"Hush," he said, turning back to his bowl, though not before noticing the wide grin that last comment elicited.

Cliff spent the rest of the morning and a good portion of the afternoon looking after Jack, though the farmer insisted that what Cliff was doing was completely unnecessary. He left at one point at around two to feed and care for Jack's animals. Umeko, the milk-cow, was distinctly unhappy, her udder swollen with unreleased milk. Cliff quickly remedied that problem for her, before feeding and grooming the other livestock. The chickens were quiet as he spread grains for them, but converged right away on the proffered food, making it easy for him to gather the six eggs left behind by the greedy birds.

When he returned to the cabin, Cliff saw that Jack had fallen asleep. He was laying on his side this time, and his head was on top of his pillow instead of beneath it. Cliff stared, entranced by Jack's peaceful countenance, for several minutes before he realized what he was doing. Quietly shutting the door, he sighed softly before making his way over to the vineyard to retrieve his dinner from Karen.

(X)

Jack slept peacefully through the rest of the day and into the night. When he next awoke, it was about four o' clock in the morning, and he was feeling remarkably recovered. A quick glance around the darkened interior of his cabin confirmed that Cliff had not hung around, and Jack couldn't help but feel disappointed, though he chided himself for hoping that Cliff would actually _stay_.

Sighing, he settled back against his pillow, tugging rogue blankets back up to cover him properly. He lay there for several minutes, wide awake. Suddenly, almost without thinking, he reached over to his bedside table, where he'd set the music box. He twisted the key several times in the dark, then set the box back on the table and opened the lid.

The quiet, soothing sound of the music filled the silence, and Jack settled against his pillow once more, remembering Rick's remark the day he'd gotten it fixed.

_"Heeey...you know, this is a love song you give to a girl,"_ was what the inventor had said. Jack closed his eyes, soothed by the music. _Love song, yes,_ he thought drowsily to himself. _Don't know any _girls _I'd give it to, though..._

He dropped quickly back to sleep, lulled by the gentle tinkling and thoughts of someone he _would_ like to give the box to.

(x)

The next morning after he'd woken properly and done his chores, Jack packed a lunch and the music box into his bag, and set out for the mountain. He'd search for Cliff all day if he had to, and he wouldn't give up until he found the man and thanked him properly for taking care of him while he was sick.

It came as rather a surprise to him that he found Cliff relitively quickly, compared with all the other times he'd set out specifically to look for him. The young man in question was fishing quietly on the riverbank.

"Cliff!"

Cliff looked up at the sound of someone calling his name, and smiled when he saw who it was. "Hi! Are you feeling better?"

"Loads," Jack responded, grinning back.

"Glad to hear it," Cliff told him, blushing slightly.

There was a moment of silence, though it wasn't too uncomfortable.

"Thank you so much for checking up on me," Jack finally said, working up the final nerve. _Just do it!_ he ordered himself sternly.

"It was no big deal," Cliff assured him with another small smile.

"For you maybe, but it meant a lot to me," Jack said, and plunged ahead. "I wanted to give this to you...to thank you," he offered the music box as he spoke. Cliff looked down at it with a mixture of astonishment and confusion.

"I...Uh...Are you sure...?" he asked, at a loss for words.

"Positive," Jack told him, still holding out the box.

"But...well, shouldn't you...uhm...that is, I'm sure there's someone else you'd rather give that to," Cliff managed to say.

Jack shook his head. "If you don't accept it, I'll throw it in the river," and motioned as if to do so.

"Wait! It's wasted on me, but if you really want me to have it...I mean..."

"That's what I want," Jack confirmed.

Cliff took the small box in his hand with a shaky smile. Jack smiled happily at him and slung his pack back over his shoulder. "I'll leave you to your fishing, then," he said cheerfully. "And thanks again!" With that final gratitude, Jack turned and walked off, leaving behind a very bemused (and very happy) Cliff.

Cliff very carefully tucked the box into his vest pocket so that he could reel in his hook properly. That done, he settled his fishing pole to the ground and crouched to the earth himself, removing the box from his vest and opening it. He recognized the tune at once, and his stomach twisted itself into all sorts of knots.

_This is a love song!_ Cliff thought, completely shocked. _He probably doesn't know...no, there's no way he _could _know...he'd never have given it to me if he did!_

Oh, but wouldn't it be wonderful if he _did_ realize the song's significance? Cliff stayed where he was, crouched down low, and let the tune slowly wind itself down, so that the last notes drifted away on the winter breeze, light and ethereal.

(x)X(x)X(x)

-To be continued-

Authors Notes: Hmm...not much to say about this one. I feel I must extend an apology if anyone is drowning in the sappiness of it all. I know _I_ am, and I'm writing the silly thing! I had a couple of alternate endings involving Ann and a different distribution of the music box, but I decided that Cliff needs a little bit of happiness to keep him going...to give him courage...you know, that sort of thing. /grins/

Minor technicality that I'm pointing out before someone else thinks to: In the game, you can't dig up the music box in the winter – the ground won't turn when there's snow on it. But since this is a bit of writing drabble and the mechanics of real-life apply over the mechanics of game-play, Jack was able to dig up the box.

I suppose I ought to mention something about the ladies I'm involving in this story. Firstly, a word about Popuri: I really, really like Popuri. In fact, she is my first choice for marriage in any Harvest Moon game. Due to the nature of this fic, however, there's not a huge chance that she's going to be marrying Jack. However, I _do_ have a happy ending in mind for her, so please don't worry. :)

Now Ann, on the other hand, is not a character I'm particularly fond of...especially since she _always_ marries Cliff, in the normal way of things, and as Cliff is my absolute favorite, I don't want anyone to marry him except my little farmer...who always has to be a guy. Drats. Why can't there be a Harvest Moon: Yaoi Edition? I'd buy _that!_

I'm feeling the need to make a small disclaimer at this point: Since I do not have a beta reader, I try to proof-read pretty thoroughly before posting my chapters, but sometimes mistakes and awkward phrases slip through, especially when I've been writing for a while and just want to get the silly thing _posted_. So apologies for any mistakes you may have noticed...No doubt I shall go through this at a later date and edit and fix up, but until then, what you see is what you get.

Comments, criticisms, and feedback are all welcome, as always. See you in Chapter 10:)


	10. Starry Night

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon 64 and all related characters are property of Natsume. This story is written for entertainment purposes only, and not one red cent is being made off its existence. (As one would assume would be obvious, as it's posted on fanfiction dot net)

Coming Home

-Chapter 10: Starry Night-

Jack was jolted out of his sleep one night by an earthquake. He sat straight up in bed and tried to wake up properly so that he could remember what he was supposed to do in this sort of situation. By the time his sleep-muddled mind worked out that he probably ought to get under the table in case the roof collapsed, it was over. Blinking a bit once the world had settled back into its usual motionless state, he absentmindedly stroked Jiro, who had crawled into his lap for comfort. Deciding it would be silly to get all worked up about it now that it was over, Jack flopped down on his back and went back to sleep.

(x)

The very next morning as Jack stepped outside to begin his morning chores, he nearly tripped over the head carpenter, who had been waiting for him to appear.

"Morning, Jack," the old man said.

"Morning," Jack responded, wondering what he wanted.

"You feel that earthquake last night?" he asked without preamble. When Jack nodded, he continued, "Well, it opened up an underground spring up on the mountain. Me and the boys are going to build an _onsen_ up there, and we need an extra pair of hands. Would you mind helping out?"

"Uhm," Jack was surprised by the sudden offer, and wasn't sure what to say.

"We'll pay you for your time, of course," the old man added, incorrectly interpreting Jack's hesitation.

"Actually, I'd like to help out," Jack said, before the old man could say anything more.

"Oh, good!" the old carpenter's face broke into a smile, which was accentuated by the many lines and wrinkles in his face. "Work starts at nine o' clock. I'll see you there."

"See you." Jack nodded, and watched as the old man left the farm. He grinned suddenly, because now he had a very nice alternative to slaving away in the dim mines all day. He much preferred the idea of working out in the fresh air to digging in a cave.

(x)

Later that morning, Jack went up to the mountain as he had been instructed, and met the old man at the bridge. Together they ascended the trail leading up the mountain-side. They were greeted enthusiastically by the three apprentices, and Jack was put to work cutting wood almost immediately.

Work progressed slowly but steadily, with the carpenters chatting and joking amongst themselves and drawing Jack into their conversations. He finally worked out that their names were Ken, Kenta, and Kenji...for all the good that would do him, as they were still as identical as ever.

They took a break for lunch around noon. Jack was enjoying his food when a movement over by the bridge (_When did they build that bridge?_ Jack wondered) caught his eye. Coming down off the mountain was Cliff. Jack swallowed his mouthful of food eagerly and started to call out, but Ken...ta? Kenji? Ken beat him to it.

"Hey Cliff!"

"Oh, hi." Cliff responded, nodding at the man in question. Jack was surprised to notice Cliff's, careful, guarded manner. He hadn't seen him act that way in months! He realized further that Cliff hadn't acted that way around him for some time now. When had he stopped? Surprised and pleased at this new discovery, Jack merely watched and listened as Cliff and Ken exchanged pleasantries.

"Are you free this afternoon?" Ken asked after a moment or two of chatting.

"Well, yes..." Cliff admitted. His gaze slid over the tableau of men, and then to the beginning construction work behind them. His eyes briefly met Jack's, and Jack grinned at him. Cliff's own mouth turned up in a small smile, but his attention was quickly dragged back to Ken.

"We're building a hot spring over this crack that was opened up by the earthquake last night. Would you like to give us a hand?"

"Good idea!" enthused the other two Kens. Jack wasn't sure which was which, so he figured they could all be 'Ken'...in his own private thoughts, at least.

"That is a good idea. Sorry I didn't think of it myself," the boss spoke up for the first time. "What do you say, young man?"

Cliff smiled nervously, and his eyes again met with Jacks. Jack grinned encouragingly and nodded.

"Sure! I'd love to," he said after a moment. The three Kens cheered boisterously while the old man nodded his head in a satisfied way.

"Great! We'll have this sucker built in no time!" he proclaimed. "Lunch's over, boys. Back to work!" At that order, Jack and the apprentices scrambled back to their feet and returned to their jobs. The old man told Cliff what he could do, and soon the mountain man was working companionably alongside the carpenters and Jack.

If Jack had been hoping for a bit of private conversation with Cliff, he would have been disappointed. The three Kens continued to dominate all the conversation, keeping up an ever-steady stream of chatter among the three of them, but also including both Jack and Cliff. All in all, hard work aside, it was a very pleasant afternoon, and when work ended at five o' clock, all the carpenters, Jack and Cliff were able to stand back and view the beginnings of their project with a certain amount of pride.

"Right! If we work like this for the rest of the week, we'll have our very own Flower Bud Onsen open by next Sunday! Now let's go home and get some sleep!" proclaimed the old man. The three apprentices exchanged amused glances above his head as he paid Jack and Cliff for their day's labor. Jack got the distinct impression that sleep, at least for the three young men, was the last thing on the agenda for the evening, now that the day's work was done.

As the four carpenters hiked off down the trail, Jack turned to Cliff, smiling.

"What a day, huh?"

"Yeah," Cliff smiled back. Jack thought he looked much more relaxed, now that the carpenters were out of sight.

"You going to come back tomorrow for another go?" he asked curiously, indicating that they too ought to begin descending from the plateau.

Cliff shrugged, and began walking down the trail, Jack a step behind him. "Dunno...I might. Actually, I probably will...I haven't had this much money for a single day's work in quite a while. It'd be nice to have a bit more."

Jack laughed. "I'll probably be back tomorrow too. It sure beats heading down into the mines."

"That it does," Cliff agreed, for he too had descended into the dark caverns on more than one occasion in search of a bit of wealth. While he was happy enough to sleep in the top-most portion of the cave on rainy or snowy nights, he was not a big fan of the underground in general, and preferred the open air.

"Hey, um..." Jack began, and paused to clear his throat. "Do you want to head down to the inn for a round or two?"

Cliff was surprised and pleased by the invitation. He blushed a little, glad that the early-descending winter twilight would cover his reaction. "I'd like that."

"Great! Let's go, then!"

(x)

Karen looked up from her position behind the bar as the door swung open and Jack stepped inside. She was just about to turn back to her very important task of wiping down the bar when a second figure entered behind Jack. She blinked with surprise when she saw who it was, and then allowed herself a small smirk when she realized that the pair had come in together.

"'Evening, Karen!" Jack said as he passed her on his way to the table in the corner beside the bar.

"Hello yourself," she said, arranging her features into a more serene, less gleeful expression. It wouldn't do to set off any sort of suspicion in Jack. Although, she reflected after a moment, he was so..._dense_, he'd probably only become suspicious if she were to do something incredibly obvious, such as smacking him over the head with a brick. Still, best not to take too many chances.

"What can I get you boys this evening?" she asked, leaning on the corner of the bar that faced their table.

"Beer for me, please," Jack said immediately, with a grin. She nodded in acknowledgement and turned her attention to Cliff.

"Beer sounds good," the quiet young man told her. She nodded and smiled at him, then turned and busied herself with a pair of mugs and the taps.

When she placed their beverages in front of them, they were conversing quietly about the new hot spring she'd heard rumors of. It sounded as though they had both spent the day helping out the carpenters, and she wondered if that would continue through to the completion of the project.

_Guess I'll just have to wait and see,_ she mused as she returned to her position behind the bar.

(x)

She was greatly pleased when the two young men continued to visit the bar together each evening after the day's work was over. In her opinion, Jack's company was exactly what her shy cousin needed. She could tell that Cliff was able to nearly drop his guard when he was around Jack - something he was not able to do with anyone else.

It was an unusually quiet Saturday night when Karen took her break, seating herself at the table right behind Jack with a glass of wine and a "don't bother me, I'm relaxing" look on her face. The bar's only patrons that evening were Cliff and Jack. She thought that was a little odd, especially for a Saturday, but, well, whatever. She still got paid no matter how many people showed up on any given day, so it didn't concern her overly much.

"...Have you ever trusted someone, and then had that trust betrayed?" Cliff asked quietly after she'd been seated for several minutes. Karen, who wasn't exactly eavesdropping so much as listening with half an ear to the conversation, perked up a little at that and began to pay closer attention to what they were saying, but she didn't let on. Instead, she took a good swallow of her wine and scowled into the glass as she usually did. For once, though, her mind was not on what she considered to be the inferior quality of the beverage in her hand, but on the conversation taking place next to her.

Jack was silent for a few moments after Cliff had asked his question, and he eventually let out his breath in a long sigh. "Yeah," he replied in a bit of uncharacteristic melancholy.

"Really?" Cliff asked. "How can you still trust people?"

"Because I want to," Jack responded.

"Wow...I wish I could be that brave..." Cliff said wistfully. Karen blinked a little at the sad, almost lost note in his voice and scowled all the harder at her wine.

"It takes all kinds," Jack told him gently.

"Hmm...I guess..." Cliff agreed after a pause. After that, the conversation between the two men returned to their more usual, light-hearted topics, and Karen stopped listening and finished her wine.

(x)

If Karen's mind was occupied a little more than usual by thoughts of Cliff that night, it was nothing compared to Jack's whirling thoughts and emotions. Try as he might, he couldn't think of anything else once the two men had parted ways for the evening. He could only imagine what had happened to Cliff to cause him to lose his trust in humanity, and he really didn't care for the direction his thoughts were taking. The best case scenario was the lesser of several other evils that occurred to him, and it was only very slightly better at that. Someone had betrayed Cliff, that much he could tell from Cliff's abrupt question. Who had done it, and what they had done? He had no clue. He certainly wasn't going to press Cliff for answers, in any event...

He only remembered to check on his animals to make sure they were settled in for the night out of long habit. He also thought that he wouldn't be able to sleep as he collapsed into his bed because of the troubling thoughts chasing each other around in his head, but he was wrong. His body didn't particularly care that his mind was otherwise occupied - he was physically exhausted from the hard work he'd done that day, and sleep took precedence over planning unlikely revenges upon the person or people who had caused Cliff to stop smiling without any worries.

(x)

The construction of the hot spring was completed the following afternoon, just as the boss carpenter had predicted at the beginning of the week. Once all the tools had been gathered and the rest of the miscellaneous messes cleaned up, the three apprentices had a race to see who would be the first to enter the hot bath. Their boss just shook his head and looked on while Cliff and Jack watched the three men carry on, wearing matching bemused expressions.

"Well, here's you pay for the day," the boss said after a few minutes had passed and the shenanigans in the bath had quieted down as the three Kens began to relax. "You two do good work," he continued, nodding decisively.

Jack grinned, while Cliff muttered an embarrassed "Thank you."

"I don't suppose either of you has a use for the extra lumber we cut up?" the old man asked, looking between Jack and Cliff with a questioning expression on his face.

"Give it to Jack," Cliff said almost immediately, before Jack could work out how to diplomatically request that he be the recipient. He smiled his thanks at Cliff, who, he was curious to note, blushed slightly and looked away.

"Alright then, why don't we carry it back to your place then, Jack?" the old carpenter asked, effectively distracting Jack from his curious thoughts.

"Okay, sure," he agreed easily. Together, the three of them each carried an arm-load of lumber down the mountain to Jack's farm, where it was added to his woodpile.

"I'll send my boys down with the rest later," the old man promised, and left Cliff and Jack alone together at the crossroads. Without saying anything, and almost without thinking about it, the two young men fell into step beside each other and made their way into town to the inn, where they toasted the successful completion of the hot spring with several beers apiece. A few hours had passed before they left to make their way home.

"Hey...uhm," Jack began once they had reached the crossroads where they usually parted ways.

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to...uh, check out the hot spring?" he asked quickly, before he could change his mind and chicken out. He watched Cliff's face as carefully as he could, but it was far too dark by this time to tell if the other man was blushing or not.

"Sure," Cliff managed to say, and congratulated himself silently when his voice didn't sound too strangled.

"I'll run and grab us some towels then," Jack said, and suited word to action, jogging briskly to his cabin to acquire the towels, and running just as quickly back to where Cliff was still waiting by the entrance to the farm.

"Man! Do you remember the last time you had a hot bath? 'Cause I sure don't!" Jack exclaimed happily as the two made their way back into the mountains.

Cliff did remember his last hot bath, as a matter of fact, and he really preferred not to, because he hadn't taken it alone. He firmly shoved all approaching memories of _him_ out of his mind and concentrated on answering Jack's question.

"It was a while ago," he said truthfully, grateful once again for the dark night that hid what he was sure was a brilliant blush of embarrassment.

"Same here. That damn river's far too cold to bathe in at this time of the year," Jack said, snorting irritably.

"Agreed," Cliff replied.

The clearing around the newly erected bath was quiet and deserted, and Jack and Cliff both slipped into the dark changing room and began shucking off their clothing as quickly as was possible considering how little light there was. Each was rather privately disappointed at how little they could see of the other, but also grateful for the dark because they were both blushing furiously and didn't want the other to know.

The bath was a large, circular pool that was shallow near the changing room, and deeper further away towards the east-facing fence. It was ringed by submerged rocks at all levels, which served as seats for bathers.

When they finally stepped in, was so hot that they had to carefully take their time before they could submerge themselves properly. They spent a full ten minutes acclimating themselves to the temperature, but were finally able to sit on the rocks positioned carefully in the middle of the pool so that the water came up to their navels.

The moon was out and the sky was clear, and Jack was in a very good position to view Cliff's assets for the first time. The moonlight detailed hard, lean muscle all throughout Cliff's arms and upper torso, a flat, taut stomach that was just a shade undernourished and...that was all he could see. The moonlight, while highlighting all of the details of the young man's torso, also reflected in a gentle glare off the surface of the water, hiding the rest of Cliff's very naked body from view. He was rather put out for a moment, until he realized that _his_ lower portions were also hidden from view, thereby saving him from a potentially embarrassing problem.

Cliff, on the other hand, was carefully avoiding looking directly at Jack, because he knew that if he did, he'd be in trouble. He was silently berating himself for getting into this very disastrous situation. _Why_ did Jack have to be so damn easy to agree with? He couldn't resist peeking at him from time to time, however, and soon, calling himself all kinds of stupid, had to scoot himself even further into the deeper end of the bath.

"Man...I've needed this forever and I hadn't even realized it before now," Jack said after several minutes of silence had passed, completely oblivious to Cliff's predicament.

"Mmm," was the noncommittal response.

Despite his outwardly calm exterior, Jack was a complete mess inside his mind. This was just the sort of situation he really ought to avoid - it was dark, rather romantic, and he and Cliff had each had several drinks before they'd made their way up here. An accidental brush of a foot here, a seemingly unintentional caress there...Hell, they were both men, but unless Cliff was seriously un-enamored of the idea of having a relationship with a guy, all it might take was a single nudge and a few well-spoken words in the right direction...

Almost unintentionally, Jack shifted himself deeper in the water and closer to Cliff, who didn't seem to notice. Just as he was settling again to calculate his next move, a sound caught his attention.

It was actually several sounds, and the longer he listened, the easier it became to discern a conversation...

"Damn! I can't believe the old man made us carry all that lumber down the mountain!" exclaimed the first voice.

"I know! And right after we'd had our bath, too!" complained the second.

"Aw, don't worry about it, you two. It's not like we can't take another one!" offered the third.

Jack and Cliff exchanged a glance.

_So much for privacy,_ Jack thought bitterly.

_Saved from my own stupidity!_ Cliff thought gratefully.

Ken, Kenji and Kenta appeared in the doorway leading to the bath in short order, each carrying a lantern and a towel. They spotted Cliff and Jack, each of whom appeared outwardly casual and relaxed.

"Hey guys!" was the enthusiastic, unanimous greeting shared by the carpenters.

"'Evening," was the slightly less enthusiastic greeting shared by Cliff and Jack.

_Am I imagining things, or is he disappointed too?_ Jack wondered after a quick glance at Cliff. He didn't get any more time to think about that, though, because he was distracted by the exuberant and gleeful splashing of the three carpenters as they entered the bath.

(x)

How Jack got himself home without anyone noticing his...problem...he would never know. Once safely isolated indoors, he took care of it, and then collapsed onto his bed, feeling rather miserable about the whole situation. He had seen Cliff every day for the past eight days, had talked with him at length about various topics, had shared quite a few rounds at the inn with him, and had even, to a point, shared a bath. He was more enamored of the other man than ever, and if Cliff continued to be predictable Cliff, he also wouldn't be seeing much of him anymore for...who knew how long? With that last miserable thought, Jack groaned in frustration and shoved his head under his pillow, and refused to think about it any more that night.

(x)

The next day, Jack spent several moments staring bemusedly at his now rather large wood pile. He hadn't realized that there was that much extra lumber from the hot spring project. And now, unless he was entirely mistaken, he had more than enough to commission the carpenters to build him a kitchen! With that happy thought in mind, he headed up to the mountain to speak with the boss.

The kitchen was built within the week. Jack's only regret was that he didn't have any fresh produce with which to cook something...potato soup sounded delicious, right about now, for a start. He'd just have to content himself with purchasing a few essentials from Elli until he could begin growing his own produce when Spring came. With his days spent in the mines and his new kitchen to distract him in the evenings, Jack managed to avoid thinking about Cliff...too much.

(x)

The weeks went by as quickly as they are inclined to in the winter-time, and Karen realized that the Starry Night festival was drawing closer. If she had to guess by Jack's rather melancholy manner when he visited the bar lately, and by Cliff's complete absence, she would say that someone was avoiding someone else, and that both men were being very silly indeed.

Well. She'd put a stop to that, wouldn't she?

The day of the festival, Karen got up earlier than usual and made her way down to Jack's farm. She stepped onto the property just as he was stepping out of the front door of his recently expanded cabin. She called a greeting, and strolled over to meet him by the shipping bin.

"Hey, Karen!" he said, perking up a bit.

"Hi Jack," she said, smiling a little in return.

"What's up?" he asked curiously, though he thought he might already know. Whenever there was an imminent festival, someone always seemed to turn up at his front door early in the morning to let him know about it. "Tonight's the Starry Night Festival," she told him. "Do you want to join me at the beach?" Of course, by inviting him to the beach, she was effectively giving up her favorite spot...but who was she to stand in the way of romance? She could always watch the stars from the sand dunes a ways back, after all...

"I'd like that a lot!" he replied, smiling.

"Great! Be there around eight o'clock, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed, and watched her leave before he turned to do his chores.

As she left, she felt a little bad for inviting him to do something with the intention of standing him up...but at least he wouldn't be _alone_ if she could help it, and she got the sneaking suspicion that he preferred Cliff's company to hers anyway.

Now Cliff...Cliff would be a little harder to persuade. She knew he liked her alright, but he was also so unsociable...not that she could blame him, after what she had overheard him talking about with Jack in the bar that night, but _still_...The boy would need to learn to trust again sometime, and Karen had the feeling that Jack was the sort of guy who'd be perfect to build that trust back up.

After pondering several scenarios, Karen decided that the best approach would also be the most direct. She spent several hours in the mountains looking for her cousin - just when she was beginning to worry that she wouldn't be able to find him, she ran into him around noon as he was stepping out of the mine.

"Cliff!"

"Oh, hi Karen," he seemed a little surprised to see her.

"I've been looking for you!"

"Er...you have?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Look...tonight's the Starry Night Festival, and I told Jack I'd meet him at the beach. But I really think that _you_ ought to be there instead, if you catch my meaning."

Cliff blinked and blushed, looking incredibly confused and embarrassed at the same time. Karen sighed.

"Look, Cliff," she began, softening her voice. "I know you like him -" as she said this, Cliff managed to blush harder than ever and began to stammer an excuse, but she cut him off and continued, "-And unless I'm _entirely_ mistaken, he likes you as well. He's been mooning about for the past two weeks, ever since the hot spring was finished, and if I were a betting sort of woman, I'd bet that he hasn't seen you at all since that last night you two came into the inn together. Am I right?"

Cliff, flustered and unhappy to be caught, only nodded mutely, his face unreadable.

"You don't _have_ to go, and I'm certainly not going to tell Jack how you feel - only you can do that. I'm just trying to push the both of you along as best I can, because I really believe you each have what it takes to make the other happy."

"How...how long have you known?" Cliff managed to ask, his voice slightly strangled. Karen smiled and laughed, not unkindly.

"Honestly? I could tell the first day I met you." Cliff raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Believe me or don't, I really don't care. I just wanted to let you know that I'm rooting for you," _And that I think you're both being incredibly silly,_ she added in her head...best to keep that last bit to herself, though.

"What about yourself? I mean, you like Jack, don't you?" Cliff asked, his voice a little steadier, now that he was over the initial shock of being confronted.

"Of course I like him! He's a very nice guy. I'm not interested in him like that, however, which is lucky for the pair of us," she said, grinning conspiratorially. "Anyway, I've been looking for you for a while now, and I need to get back to the vineyard. Don't forget. Eight o'clock at the beach." With that, she turned and began making her way along the river towards the bridge. Cliff watched her go, stunned. She was almost out of sight when a thought occurred to him, and he shouted after her,

"Was that you? The fireworks?"

She turned, walking backwards, and grinned, flashing the victory sign with her right hand. Shortly after, she disappeared altogether from view. Cliff stared at the spot where she had vanished, too bemused to do anything for several minutes.

(x)

Eight o'clock came, and Jack made his way down to the beach, looking forward to a quiet evening with Karen, and wishing very hard that it would be a quiet evening with someone else entirely. However, that wasn't very fair to Karen, so he resolved to be as cheerful as possible.

He descended the slope from the path near the ranch and stepped out onto the cold sand. He could make out a dark shape sitting a ways down the way, and he walked forward, preparing to call out. As he neared, he could make out a familiar brown leather vest and a short, blond ponytail that was rather silvery in the starlight.

"Cliff?"

"What, you not happy to see me?" came the somewhat hurt reply, though Jack was sure he was just putting on.

"Of course I am! I was just...er..."

"Expecting Karen?"

"Well...yes..."

"Funny thing about that..."

"Oh?"

"Have a seat!" Cliff said instead, slapping the sand beside him in invitation. Outwardly he appeared to be cool and collected, but inside he was a complete mess.

_She said she thinks he likes me!_

Thinks_, Cliff, _thinks! _She doesn't _know!

_But she knew about me!_

_Only because you're so obvious!_ Of course, he had no idea that Jack was just as bad as he was...he was far too busy worrying about his own problems that he didn't have time to notice Jack's.

_You can bank on a woman's intuition._ he told himself firmly, and that shut up the nagging voice of doubt. For now.

While Cliff had been carrying on his internal dialogue, Jack had seated himself and was busy staring up at the sky. The two men sat in silence for several minutes, until it was broken by Jack.

"You were saying about Karen...?"

"What? Oh, yes...she told me she had some unavoidable business...not sure what, but she asked me to come instead so that you wouldn't be here all by yourself." What Cliff didn't know was that Karen, at that very moment, was seated on a fence post next to a young man in a purple bandanna who she was beginning to like very much, watching the stars from the vineyard.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"That's the second time she's done this," Jack said after a moment.

"Hmm?"

"Sent you as a proxy...she did it when I got sick from working too hard at the beginning of the season, remember?"

"Naturally." _Like I'll ever forget _that! An image of Jack, lying spread eagle and stripped to his boxers, flat on his back in bed with the covers kicked off, floated unbidden into his mind, and he smiled a little at the memory.

"She seems a bit...absent-minded, huh?" Jack asked after a moment or two more of silence.

"Mmm," Cliff responded noncommittally. _If "absent-minded" is synonymous with "scheming" then yes, yes she is._

Their conversation dropped off after a while, and the pair of them leaned back on their hands in the sand and stared up at the sky. It was said that this was the night when the stars were at their most beautiful. It was certainly true that the stars tonight were incredibly lovely - the sky was clear, and there was no moon. They were far enough away from the town, which only had very minimal lighting at night anyway, that there was no light to be found anywhere, except that of the star-light.

Taking in the devastatingly romantic scenery, Cliff couldn't help but mentally return to the conversation he'd had with Karen earlier that day, her words repeating themselves over and over in his head:

_I know you like him, and unless I'm _entirely _mistaken, he likes you as well._

Could he do it? Tonight, under the stars? He glanced at Jack, who had by this time stretched out on his back, cradling his head with his fingers laced beneath it as a make-shift pillow. Three little words - that was all he had to say.

_...unless I'm _entirely _mistaken, he likes you as well._

Cliff squirmed a bit, wavering back and forth.

_he likes you as well._

He shifted his weight around, trying to find a more comfortable position for his rear, which was falling asleep.

_...he likes you..._

"Jack, I -" Before he could get any further, however, Cliff was interrupted by a gentle snore. Turning to stare at the prone form of the other man, Cliff stared in astonishment as yet another soft snore emerged. Cliff almost felt like weeping. Instead, he simply sighed heavily and flopped down onto his own back. The sand was cold - it hadn't warmed up much in the weak winter sunlight during the day, and the surface sand was always the first to lose its heat anyway. The thought of shaking Jack awake fleetingly crossed Cliff's mind, but he dismissed it. The moment, if indeed there had ever been one, was gone, and there was not a thing he could do about it.

(x)X(x)X(x)

-To be continued-

Author's notes: You know you've officially watched way too many romantic anime when you can do awful things like this to your readers _twice_ in one chapter without even thinking about it. I promise I'll stop doing this...soon. I swear!

So the boys have been blushing awkwardly around each other for nearly a year now, and this is the first time one of them has noticed. My my, they're such silly boys, aren't they? What? You say it's _my_ fault? Well, I guess you're right. Harumph.

_Onsen_ is the Japanese word for "Hot Spring".

So in Harvest Moon II GBC, the carpenter who expands your house is named Ken. Since he looks remarkably like the three carpenter's apprentices in HM64, I decided that I'd just go ahead and name them after him...and who knows, maybe he's their dad, or something. Myahaha.

Kudos to whoever catches the _Cowboy Bebop_ quote. There's one in there somewhere, I promise. ;)

Anyway, please feel free to leave a review...A very big thank-you goes out to everyone who has left a review thus far! It's a big motivation for me to continue when I know so many people are enjoying my story. As always, comments and constructive criticism are very welcome, and flames, as one young lady has recently discovered, will be severely mocked. See you all in Chapter 11 (and what a chapter it will be!). :)


	11. New Year's Resolution

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon 64 and all related characters are property of Natsume. This story is written for entertainment purposes only, and not one red cent is being made off its existence. (As one would assume would be obvious, as it's posted on fanfiction dot net)

Coming Home

-Chapter 11: New Year's Resolution-

_Jack slowly became aware of being held carefully within a tender embrace. He inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of sweat and leather. His face was cradled in the crook of an obliging neck, and he opened his eyes and lifted his head to see who it belonged to._

_Cliff._

_The man in question smiled at him gently. Jack quickly became aware of several facts, all in quick succession. Cliff's arms were wrapped very firmly around his torso, as his were around Cliff's. Their bodies were pressed together from their knees to their chests, and Jack noticed a little uncomfortably that he was having some serious trouble concerning the region just below his belt. With their bodies pressed so closely together, there was no way he could avoid noticing that Cliff seemed to be having the very same problem._

_That particular concern only occupied his immediate thoughts for a fleeting instant, however, because he couldn't help but notice how close Cliff's gently smiling face was to his own, and how it was drawing ever closer by the moment. He closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly, ready to receive Cliff's kiss._

_He was quite surprised when he felt the enthusiastic menstruations of a wet tongue lapping over his face._

_What the...?_

Jack opened his eyes and took in the long brown face of Jiro, who, upon seeing that his master was awake, stopped licking and began snuffling loudly, poking his cold, wet nose into Jack's ear.

"Jiro! Get off!" Jack exclaimed, pushing the small dog away from his face with a little more force than was probably necessary. Jiro didn't seem to mind though, and retreated to his usual place at the foot of the bed, smiling a goofy doggy smile.

Jack, for his part, groaned unhappily and rolled over onto his side. The bright red digital numbers of his clock told him it was 4:42 AM...two minutes away from instant death. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to recall the last moments of the dream, but they had fled to wherever it is that dream-fragments go, and he couldn't bring them back.

_I can't go on like this,_ he thought in despair. _I'm going to have to tell him soon...then we'll find out one way or another how he feels...and if he hates me, I'll get over it. If he doesn't..._

Jack opened one eye slightly to look at the clock again. It read 4:43. He quickly shut his eye again and rolled over so that he wouldn't be able to peek at the clock. He wasn't normally a superstitious sort, but some things stuck in his mind no matter how practical he tried to be, and the number 4:44 was one of those things that wouldn't leave him alone.

Despite his busy thoughts, he managed to return to disappointingly dreamless sleep a few minutes later.

(x)

Jack double and triple checked his recipe against the ingredients he had laid out on the counter. Not that he needed to, but he had managed to both find Cliff _and_ invite him over for dinner tonight, and he wanted everything to be perfect. It had taken him a few weeks to acquire the necessary foodstuffs, because he'd had to order them from out of town and wait for them to be delivered. Onion, carrots, parsnip, lentils...check, check, check and check. Salt, pepper, butter, thyme, veggie stock and bay leaves. It was all here.

Rolling his eyes a little at himself, Jack turned the stove on to medium heat, placed a generous portion of butter in the cooking pot, and put the pot on the burner. That done, he busied himself with chopping the onion. About half-way through, his eyes had teared up so badly it was difficult for him to see. He berated himself for forgetting about his mother's old trick of refrigerating the onion before going to cut it up. He managed to finish it in the end though, and he dumped the whole mess into the pot, where it hit the melted butter and began to sizzle nicely. He swirled the onion around so that it more or less evenly covered the bottom of the pot, and turned his attention to peeling and chopping the carrots and parsnip.

It took him about fifteen minutes to finish with the vegetables, and by that time the onions had simmered long enough on their own. He added the chopped carrots and parsnip, and also about two pints of water. After stirring the veggies and water briefly, he added the veggie stock cube and stirred for a few more moments until it had dissolved. Then in went the salt, pepper, thyme and two large bay leaves. Lastly he added two generous handfuls of lentils, and stirred the whole mixture for a few more moments, before cranking up the heat on the stove.

Once the mixture was at a boil, he carefully placed the lid of the pot on lopsided, so that there was a space on either side for the steam to escape. That done, he set his kitchen timer for thirty minutes, and set out two bowls on the counter and placed two spoons, napkins, and glasses on the kitchen table. He then cut up a loaf of freshly baked bread that he'd purchased that afternoon from Elli and set it and a pat of butter in the middle of the table.

The next half-hour passed excruciatingly slowly. Jack had nothing to do but pace about and check the progress of the soup occasionally to make sure all the water didn't evaporate away. Adding more water to the soup and stirring it didn't take all that long, and then it was back to the pacing.

Jack became increasingly more nervous as the minutes passed, and he was quite sure he wouldn't have even known Cliff had knocked on the door in the main room if Jiro hadn't begun barking wildly. He hurried to open the door and found Cliff waiting on his doorstep, his cheeks rosy from the chilly air outside.

"Hi, Jack,"

"Come on in!" Jack said, simultaneously stepping back from the door and nudging Jiro aside with one foot, for the small dog had ceased barking and edged over to the door behind Jack to investigate the disturbance more thoroughly.

"Wow, it's nice in here," Cliff said appreciatively, shivering slightly as he stepped into the warmth of Jack's cabin.

"Come into the kitchen and have a seat," Jack told him, motioning him forward with a wave of his hand. "The soup needs to cook a little more, but it's almost ready."

Cliff inhaled enthusiastically as he entered the kitchen. The bubbling concoction on the stove smelled _good_. His stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly, and he shot an embarrassed glance at Jack, who grinned at him good naturedly.

"Hungry?" he teased as he motioned Cliff to sit down on one of the stools at the table. Cliff returned Jack's smile with a sheepish one of his own, and nodded.

"Have some bread," he offered. Cliff took a slice, buttered it lightly, and watched Jack as he bustled about the kitchen attempting to look busy.

"How's the hunting?" Jack asked after a few moments of silence wherein Cliff contemplated whether or not he was brave enough to help himself to more bread. At Jack's question, he made a face and replied,

"It's gotten pretty scarce. I'm glad spring's just around the corner, because at least then there'll be herbs and stuff to eat."

"I know what you mean...All I've been shipping recently is a little milk, eggs, and ore from the mines, and I'm tired of having to order vegetables from town."

They were quiet for a moment then, Jack leaning on the counter and Cliff sitting at the table. Then Jack, noticing the way Cliff was eyeing the bread, stepped over to the table, picked up the top-most slice from the pile, and deposited on the place-mat in front of Cliff. Cliff flushed slightly and ducked his head in thanks, while Jack grinned.

_Goddess, he's so..._cute is what he thought.

"Please help yourself," is what he said.

The soup was ready soon after, and Jack quickly ladled generous portions into the two waiting bowls.

"Smells great!" Cliff exclaimed, inhaling appreciatively as Jack placed a bowl in front of him. Jack smiled at the praise, and picked up Cliff's glass.

"Water or milk?" he asked, moving to the fridge.

"Milk, please," Cliff said.

Once the beverages were dispensed, Jack sat down across from Cliff and they both tucked in. All the while he was eating, Jack was wondering how best to broach the topic of his crush. He'd actually been wondering how to do this all day, but had yet to come up with a satisfactory idea. The conversation they were having, which ranged from a variety of mundane, every-day topics, was not offering him any inspiration. Finally, during a pause, he decided to just come out with it.

"Hey, Cliff -"

"Jack, I want to -"

Both men shared a flustered moment in which they indicated that the other should go ahead and speak. Finally, Jack allowed himself to be persuaded, and launched ahead:

"Well...you know, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now..." he paused, suddenly unsure of how to continue. Cliff caught his breath and waited anxiously. What Karen had told him about Jack that day...could it really be true? Was Jack going to...?

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out at the Inn with me on New Year's Eve," Jack said in a rush, not looking directly at Cliff. He mentally smacked himself on the forehead. _Where_ had_that_ come from? That wasn't what he had meant to say at all!

Cliff was torn between disappointment and happiness. He was disappointed because the hoped-for confession had failed to emerge, but happy because Jack had invited him somewhere.

"I'd like that," he said carefully, though he couldn't stop himself from smiling. Hopefully he didn't look too much like an idiot.

"Great!" Jack said. _Okay, Jack-o. Maybe this is salvageable after all. You can tell him at New Year's. That's only a few days away, there'll be more time to plan._ "Umm...What was it that you were going to say?"

Cliff paused for a moment and blinked several times. He _had_ been about to spill his guts and confess, but now he chickened out._It'll be better to do it at New Year's,_ he thought, giving himself an excuse. "Oh, I just wanted to, uhm, thank you for this wonderful dinner," he said, congratulating himself on his very plausible-sounding lie.

"You're welcome!" Jack said with enthusiasm, smiling so happily that Cliff couldn't help but smile back. "I'll have to have you over for dinner again sometime."

"I'd like that."

With the awkward moment past, the two young men spent the rest of the evening chatting amiably until around ten o'clock, when Cliff insisted that he'd "better get back," even though Jack repeatedly offered to let him sleep over.

As he watched Cliff disappear from view around the hedge that blocked the road from view, Jack thunked his head gently against the doorframe several times.

"Stupid," he muttered to himself.

(x)

The days until New Year's Eve passed both too quickly and not quickly enough. Even though Jack now had several extra days before his self-enforced confession, his mind remained a complete blank. It seemed that there would be no heavenly intervention, no divine inspiration, to help him through this ordeal. As things stood right now, he was probably going to make a complete fool of himself.

Nevertheless, he was outside the door to the inn promptly at eight o'clock, and was inside soon after. All the regular patrons had turned up tonight, as well as a few irregular ones. Actually, the only person he didn't regularly see at the inn was Ann, and she was holding a very animated one-sided conversation with her brother Grey. Jack made his way over to what he had come to think of as "their" table to wait for Cliff, exchanging New Year's greetings with the people he passed on his way. The inn was quite crowded, and the usual comfortable, quiet atmosphere had been exchanged for a festive, cheery one in honor of the occasion.

Cliff arrived only a few minutes behind Jack. He was accosted at the door by Ann, who was already rather tipsy, even though it was still quite early in the evening. Jack watched in amusement as the two exchanged New Year's greetings. After a few moments, Cliff managed to extricate himself from Ann's presence. Jack smiled at Cliff as he made his way to the back of the room, and Cliff grinned back.

"Happy New Year," Jack said as Cliff settled into his chair.

"Give or take a few hours," Cliff responded with a grin.

"Yes, well..."

"How's life?"

"Same old. You?"

"Nothing new here."

"Can I get you boys something to drink?" Karen had wandered over and was standing over them with a mysterious little smile on her face. Cliff blinked at her and gulped, but Jack didn't notice.

"You can if you're paying," he said, leaning back in his best flirtatious manner. Karen raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"I'll spring for my cousin here," she said, patting Cliff companiably on the shoulder, "but you're on your own, Jack-o,"

"Awww...what's he got that I don't?" Jack asked with a pout, leaning forward and resting his left elbow on the table and propping his chin on his hand.

"He's cuter than you."

"I beg your pardon!?"

Karen snickered. "You heard me. Now what'll it be? I do have other tables to serve, you know."

Jack grumbled something unintelligible that Karen interpreted as a request for beer. Cliff made the same request, albeit a bit more intelligently. Karen grinned at him and winked as she whirled about and made her way behind the bar to begin filling her orders. Cliff watched her with mixed emotions - he was glad she was rooting for him, but he was still a little unnerved by her all the same.

Karen returned shortly with the drinks.

"I'll just put this on your tab," she said sweetly to Jack, who was still pouting.

"Whatever," he muttered. Karen grinned and winked once more at Cliff as she set his drink in front of him, then turned and wandered off to talk to Ann. Cliff couldn't stop the snicker that escaped as she left.

"Everyone's ganging up on me," Jack muttered, feigning hurt.

"That's not true!" Cliff protested, his mirth dying quickly away at the sight of Jack's put-out face.

Jack couldn't continue the charade any further than that. "I'm just kidding," he told him with a smile. "Cheers!" Jack raised his glass, and Cliff mirrored him.

"Cheers!" he agreed.

(x)

While the other patrons allowed themselves to become pleasantly drunk as the evening wore on closer to midnight, Jack and Cliff abstained. Each wanted to be sober enough to confess properly to the other, and the kind of seriousness they desired couldn't be achieved through drunken antics.

At five minutes to midnight, Karen began making her way round the crowed room with a tray filled with champagne glasses. Everyone received a glass, and Duke turned on the old transistor radio that he kept underneath the bar. The frequency was tuned to the countdown that was taking place in the city, and everyone waited with baited breath as the voice on the radio announced the beginning of the countdown.

Ann joined in with the radio when the word "ten" was pronounced, and her enthusiasm for the whole affair encouraged everyone in the room to join in.

The countdown was over quickly, and everyone cheered as the radio announced, "Happy New Year!" Champagne was toasted, glasses were clinked, and everyone burst into animated chatter. Jack participated for about an hour, before he realized that the loud conversations looked as though they were setting up to continue for quite some time - he had something he needed to tell Cliff, and this certainly wasn't the place to do it.

Motioning to Cliff to follow him, Jack slowly made his way from the back of the bar where they had been sitting to the door with Cliff trailing behind. Everyone was very cheerful and merry, though they all seemed a bit to prone to making long farewells. Jack found himself making excuses that ran along the lines of, "Gotta get to bed - I wake up at dawn, you know!" and "It's way past my bedtime! I need to get to sleep!" He felt slightly bad about lying to his friends (because he had no intention of going to bed yet), but felt that it was justified in this case.

When they had both finally made it outside, Jack and Cliff began walking down the street side by side. Jack was possessed with a sudden urge to seize Cliff's hand, but he suppressed it and shoved his hands deep into his pockets instead.

Just before they reached the crossroads where they usually parted ways, Jack turned to Cliff.

"Hey...do you want to hike up the mountain with me? We can watch the sun rise on New Year's Day." As Jack said these words, he felt like gagging. That had to be the most cheese-eating line he'd ever uttered in his entire life. And that was saying something.

Cliff, oblivious to Jack's internal reaction to what he had just said, felt his face grow hot. "I...I'd like that a lot," he said, grateful as always for the obliging darkness.

"Okay," Jack responded, and the two turned at the crossroads and began walking up the mountain.

_"Okay"? __**"Okay!?"**__ Jack, you, my friend, are really, really...dumb. Seriously._ Jack silently berated himself as he and Cliff made their way up the trail.

Cliff, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to Jack's internal monologue. He was rather more concerned with what he was going to say to Jack in the next few hours than anything else. Heart pounding, sweaty palms, nervous stomach...he had to tell Jack, and he had to do it tonight! Well, this morning, but still. The atmosphere couldn't be more perfect - at the top of Moon Mountain at sunrise? He couldn't have _asked_ for a better set-up.

Wait, no, yes he could have. If someone could have scripted something for him to say..._that_ would have made the whole situation perfect. He had been given a lot to work with, though, so he figured he would make the best of it.

The climb to the peak of the mountain passed in relative silence, each man consumed with his own personal thoughts. They made it to the top with several hours to spare, and Jack almost immediately wished he'd thought to bring blankets - he was still warm from the alcohol he'd had earlier that night and the actual hike up, but he knew that would wear off soon enough, and then he'd be freezing cold until the sun came up.

Jack and Cliff passed the time pleasantly, chatting about this and that - inconsequential things - in an effort to fill up the silence. Eventually, though, they both ran out of things to talk about, and so settled into silence. Cliff shifted around uncomfortably for a moment or two - they'd each seated themselves on the ground near the drop-off - before clearing his throat.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"I, uh...I have something I have to tell you."

Curious, Jack turned his gaze from the serenely starlit forest below to look at Cliff. "What is it?"

"Well..." Here, Cliff trailed off into silence, and it looked for a moment as though he'd changed his mind about speaking at all - he was staring straight ahead, his gaze firmly fixed on the peak of a distant mountain. Jack's eyes were staring straight at Cliff's shadow-darkened profile, and, for some reason, his heart began beating erratically.

Cliff took a deep breath, and then all at once came out with it: "I like you, Jack. I've liked you almost since the day I met you, and I wanted you to know. I know admitting this is going to change our friendship, but I couldn't keep quiet any longer, and I really hope you don't hate me for telling you this, and I really hope we can still be friends, but it needed to be said, and - "

Jack stared in astonishment as Cliff rattled on. Part of him was astonished at how Cliff was babbling - he'd never heard Cliff say this much at once. The other part of him hadn't heard anything past "I like you, Jack."

"And anyway, I just...wanted to tell you," Cliff finished lamely. He forced himself to turn his head and look at Jack, to see how Jack was taking his confession.

_He likes me!_

Jack was staring at him with a look of utter astonishment on his face - Cliff had no idea how to interpret that. "Jack?"

_He likes me!_

Jack continued to stare, not moving or saying anything. Cliff, who had felt as light as a feather for a moment after he'd finished speaking, began to experience a rapidly descending dread.

"Jack?"

Still no response.

_Cliff likes me!_

"I'm sorry...um...I'll leave now," Cliff lept to his feet - or at least he tried - sitting on the cold ground in the middle of a cold night was not the greatest way to treat one's body. Joints tended to become stiff, and Cliff's were no exception.

_Karen was wrong! WRONG! Goddess, what was I THINKING!? She was obviously just screwing around with me! That's what people DO, you KNOW that's what people do, no one cares about you, you stupid moron! You could have just left well enough alone, but no! As soon as you hear that he might _possibly _like you back, you go and confess! You don't even think about it! Good going, Cliff. Good going._

Jack blinked as Cliff jerkily rose to his feet, and his heart leapt in his throat as he caught sight of the other man's face. Cliff looked to be near tears, and he had no idea why.

"Cliff!" Jack's hand shot out and grabbed at one of Cliff's trouser legs, preventing him from leaving. Cliff stood still and refused to look down at Jack.

"Cliff," Jack repeated, softer this time, and with a small tug on Cliff's leg. Cliff still refused too look down, so Jack got his feet under him as quickly as he could, and stood up, relocating his grip from Cliff's pants to the bottom of his vest.

"Cliff," he repeated for a third time. "I like you too, Cliff. A lot."

Finally, Cliff turned his head, and his eyes met with Jack's. Neither man said anything for several moments. Their only contact was Jack's grip on Cliff's vest. Slowly, very slowly, Cliff raised his hand and gripped Jack's forearm. Jack's skin was cool to the touch, but Cliff's hand was very warm. Just as slowly, as though he were scared he'd frighten Cliff away if he moved too fast, Jack raised his free hand and placed it on Cliff's shoulder. Cliff tensed for a moment, and then relaxed, and allowed Jack to pull him closer. When Jack felt Cliff's tentative touch on his waist, he moved the hand on Cliff's shoulder up to cup his face, and wrapped his other arm round Cliff's waist. Cliff, in turn, slowly and almost disbelivingly embraced Jack, bringing their faces within inches of each other. Carefully, almost reverently, Jack closed the gap between their lips.

It wasn't much of a kiss, as kisses go. It was quick, and over rather quickly. But it was sweet, and gentle, and, somehow, Jack was able to convey his feelings to Cliff rather accurately through this quiet contact. And really, how much more could one ask of a simple kiss?

(x)X(x)X(x)

-To be continued?-

(Edited) Author's notes: In response to several recent reviews, I feel I'd better note here that, as of right now (right now being February 2008), I'm pretty sure this story is resigned to "incomplete" status from here on out. Although I've also been told that where I left off is a fairly satisfying ending in and of itself - love is declared, kisses are had, and the world is like a sparkly, brand-new place...Heh.

Deepest apologies to those waiting for continuation; please take comfort in the fact that I myself hate it when authors leave off right in the middle with no hope for a proper conclusion, and now, by doing this, I've become something I myself hate. Ironic how that works, isn't it?

However! All is not lost! (Maybe.) I'm currently almost two years into a collaboration with another author on a fic with themes similar to this one - fairy tales (instead of farming), fluff, angst, wacky adventures, and, probably most importantly, slash. We're still going (fairly) strong and are updating (more or less) regularly. So if you liked this little fic, chances are you'll also enjoy t'other one. You can find a link to it in my profile, if you're curious. I'd link to it here, but eff eff dot net doesn't seem to allow that.

Once again, thank you for reading this far. If I've managed to brighten your day, awesome! If I've horrified you by writing about two men in love, _even more awesome._ :D You can flame me if you want, but the most I'll do in response to that is giggle.

Regardless of whether you liked this story or hate my guts, I hope you have an absolutely fabulous day. :)


End file.
